iKnow it, and so does everybody
by xxiCarlyFanxx
Summary: Sam and Freddie like each other. Carly knows it, and tries to help them to get together, 'cuz she knows they won't admit their feelings for each other without a little help. But how? You will have to read to find out! SEDDIE! :D
1. Chapter 1: The phone call

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world! **

**This is my first long fic! And I had this idea from a dream (a very cute dream!)**

**I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Well, I... oh, wait, my cellphone is ringing... "hello?... oh, hi Dan!... so, did you think about my offer?... oh, so you won't sell iCarly... oh, okay *sniff*... bye..." just kidding, and for the slow ones... I don't own iCarly!! :(**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

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I know it, and so does everybody (Chapter 1) - The phone call

**Carly's POV**

I know they like each other, and everybody can see it, they just don't admit it. And today in the morning, something made me be totally sure of it.

If you're asking yourself who I'm talking about, I'll tell you, my two best friends, Sam and Freddie.

--------------------------------------- FLASHBACK ----------------------------------------

I was in the kitchen drinking some iced tea after school and Sam and Freddie weren't here right now. Sam's mom called her and said something about the cat being mean and crazy and she needed help to lock him in the bathroom or something like that. And Freddie's mom pulled him out of my apartment saying something about an emergence tick bath.

I was thinking about them, thinking that one day, they might be together, and then Spencer came inside the apartment all wet and with a black eye.

"Spencer! What happened?!"

"I was walking down the street from the Groovy Smoothie, eating a sandwich and drinking a smoothie, but then a hobo appeared in front of me and said 'Can I have your sandwich and your smoothie?' and I said 'No!' and then he punched me on the face, took my smoothie, threw it on me, stole my sandwich and ran away!"

"OMG! Are you OK?!"

"No, I need a shower" He said and went to the bathroom.

Wow, how can a hobo be so mean? Well, now, back to the point, I think they just need a little help, you know, somebody that they can talk about their true feelings, someone like…me. Yeah! I'm their best friend! I just don't know from where I can start…maybe…Melanie! Of course! She went on a date with Freddie, but he was thinking she was Sam! Maybe he said something for her thinking that she was Sam! I'll call her now!

I took the phone and called her.

"Hello?"

"Hello! Melanie, is that you?"

"Yes, who's there?"

"It's me, Carly Shay!"

"Oh! Carly! How are you?"

"Fine, and you?"

"Oh, I'm great"

"So,…" I started " Melanie, I need to ask you something..."

"What is it?"

"Well, do you remember the last time you came to Seattle, and you went on a date with Freddie?"

"Of course I remember!"

"So, I wanted to know what happened on the date"

"Why? Didn't Freddie tell you?"

"Well, the just thing I know is that you kissed him… and I wanted to know if he said something that could…" I bit my lip, I didn't know if I could tell her about my little plan… and if she tells Sam? Because total opposites or not, they're sisters.

"Something that could what?"

"Something that could… prove that Freddie likes Sam, because on his mind, the date was with Sam…"

"Do you think he likes her?"

"Well, I think, because, first of all, if he hated her, he wouldn't have asked you out thinking you were Sam"

"Yeah, it makes sense… well, it won't hurt if I tell you… well, nothing happened in the beginning, we sat for a while, then he went to get us some drinks, but then he came back with two empty cups, and then he started saying things like 'I know you're Sam' and things like that, then he said 'well, if you're not Sam you won't mind if I hold your hand' and then he held my hand and I said 'sure I don't' …"

"He held your hand?!"

"Yep, and then he invited me to dance!"

"What kind of dance?"

"Slow"

"Wow! And you danced?"

"Sure, and in the middle of the dance, I kissed him"

"And what did he do when you kissed him?"

"He ran away"

"He ran away?"

"Yep, I tried to follow him but I couldn't, he was too fast, and I'm not the fastest person in the world"

"Just this? He didn't say nothing when you were dancing or after you kissed him?"

"No… I think… oh! Wait! There's one more thing!"

"What?"

"After I kissed him, he said something like 'we swore we'd never do this again!' "

_We swore we'd never do this again… _OMG! I can't believe it! It means that swore they would never kiss again, so they've already kissed!!! It's awesome! But they hid it from me…but it stills awesome!

"Carly? Are you OK?"

"Yeah! I'm awesome! Thank you really much! But please don't tell nothing about this conversation to Sam!"

"Sure! I won't"

"OK! Now I need to go, bye!"

"Bye!"

I hung up the phone and continued drinking my iced tea thinking about what I had just found out, smiling.

----------------------------------END FLASHBACK-------------------------------------------------

And now I'm here, sitting on the couch, at eight o'clock at night. Freddie and Sam are here too, and so does Spencer. We are watching an horror movie, well, the just one who's paying attention (and screaming a little bit) is Spencer. Sam fell asleep after 15 minutes, Freddie was looking at the screen but he didn't seem to be paying attention.

Freddie was looking at Sam at every few minutes in the same way he used to look at me, and he had a little smile on his face. I was pretending I wasn't noticing, but I couldn't help the little smile on my face.

After the movie, we watched some TV, and then…

"I … have to… see something at home" Freddie said.

"Kay, see you tomorrow at school!" I said.

"See you!"

He walked to the door and left. I looked to Spencer, who was having some kind of panic attack because of the movie, and then I looked at Sam, who was still asleep.

This is perfect! Spencer is busy having a panic attack and Sam is sleeping, this is the perfect situation to talk to Freddie about Sam. They're not together now just because they don't admit that they like each other, and the first step is admit it, and it's the just way I can help them. My plan will start tonight. How should I call it? **Putting Sam and Freddie together!** No, **Helping Sam and Freddie to get together! **No, it has to be something short, but that makes sense. Like… I don't know. I could mix their names… **Fram!** No, I have a better one! **Seddie! **Yeah! Perfect! Oh, that's sounds so cute! And now, let's start **The Seddie Plan!**

Then, I walked to the door.

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**Author's Note: So, what did you think?**

**I hope you liked it!**

**And now, I just had a great idea! You should hit that green button right there and write your opinion!!**

**Isn't it an awesome idea? _You: Yeah! I'll do it now!_**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	2. Chapter 2: True Feelings

**Author's Note: And here comes a new chapter of iKnow it, and so does everybody!**

**Thank you so much for you guys who added this story to favorites!!**

**Disclaimer: I'm trying to contact Dan but he doesn't asnwer the phone! Just kidding, saddly, I don't own iCarly *sniff***

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

Chapter 2: True Feelings

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**Freddie's POV**

I don't know what's happening to me. Last year, I thought I loved Carly, but now…

Well, everything started in that night on the fire escape, when Sam and I had our first kiss, _together._

In that night, I saw a side of Sam that I never thought it could exist. After she told everybody I had never kissed anyone, she told everybody that she had never kissed anyone either, just to help me. And after, she went to apologize with me about everything bad she had ever done to me.

Things changed after that night, and now I'm here, looking at her while she's sleeping. We're at Carly's, watching an horror movie (and by 'we', I mean me, Sam, Carly and Spencer), but just Carly and Spencer are paying total attention to the movie. Sam fell asleep after 15 minutes, and I was just looking at the screen, but I wasn't paying attention on what was on the screen, because my mind wasn't there, I was lost in thoughts. Sometimes, I just looked at Sam, just to see her again, and the only chance I have to do this is when she's sleeping.

She was so peaceful sleeping, and so pretty… Oh, wait! Did I just say that Sam is pretty? She's Sam! I think those tick baths are not making good things to my brain. I might be crazy…

_No… you just like her… _A voice came to my mind.

Yeah, I like her, she's one of my best friends!

_No, I mean you like **like** her…_

What?! I don't like her in this way! I mean, I can't like her in this way!

_But you do…_

No, I don't!

_Yes, you do!_

No, I don't!

_Yes, you do!_

No, I don't!

_No, you don't!_

YES, I DO! Oh, wait! Ugh!

Then, the movie ended and after some minutes, I decided I had to think, 'cuz that battle I my head didn't stop.

"I need… to… see something at home…"

"Kay, see you tomorrow at school" Carly replied.

"See you" I said and left. I went to the place I always go when I need to think, the same place me and Sam had our first kiss, _together._ The fire escape.

There, I sat on the stairs and looked to the Seattle lights. Last year, my "love" for Carly started to change, I don't see her in the same way I used to anymore. I still love her, but like a sister, and I can't imagine us together.

And after the kiss, I couldn't stop thinking about Sam, her blue eyes, they're the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen in my life, her curly blond hair, those golden curls falling on her shoulders, and her lips, oh, how badly I want to have her lips pressed onto mines again.

When I kissed her it was magic and I felt sparks. One month ago I thought that the sparks were gone, 'cuz when I kissed Melanie thinking she was Sam, I didn't feel anything. Oh, you didn't know I know that Melanie is real right? So let's explain.

---------------------------------------FLASHBACK----------------------------------------------

I was at Carly's, 'cuz I forgot my cellphone there, so I came back to take it, but when I was in there, somebody came on the elevator.

I knew Carly and Sam went shopping so I expected the people who came on the elevetor to be them, but when I turned to see them, my eyes were widened and my mouth opened. There they were, Carly, Sam, and another girl, who looked exactly like Sam. I was speechless, and I was in shock, so Melanie was real!

They came near me and Carly spoke first.

"Hey Freddie!"

I didn't answer, and she realized that I was looking at the two blond girls who were on front of me with little grins on her faces. Then, Sam spoke.

"So Freddork, now do you believe that Melanie is real?"

I just nodded, and they went to the kitchen laughing at me.

--------------------------------------------END FLASHBACK-----------------------------------------

I don't know for how long I stayed there thinking, but my thoughts were interrupted by someone sitting next to me. I thought on Sam and I really wanted the person to be her. Then, I turned to face the person.

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**Author's Note: I hope you liked it!**

**So... Freddie is not sure about his feelings...**

**And who's the misterious person?**

**haha cliffhanger!!**

**I'll try to update it today, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it!**

**And please, please ,please review!!!**

**It will make me really happy!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	3. Chapter 3: Searching

**Author's Note: And here it is! The third chapter of iKnow it, and so does everybody!!**

**I couldn't upload it yesterday, but here it is!!**

**And thank you so much for you guys who reviewed and/or added to favorites!! **

**Disclaimer: How many time do I have to say that I don't own iCarly? _Just on more time, please! _Okay, okay. I don't own iCarly! Happy now? _Yep! _**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

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Chapter 3: Searching

**Carly's POV**

I walked to the door and crossed the hallway to Freddie's apartment. I knocked on the door and waited. Some seconds later, I heard footsteps, and then somebody opened the door.

"Oh, hi Carly" Mrs. Benson said.

"Hi Mrs. Benson, can I talk to Freddie?"

"What? He's not at your apartment?"

"No, he said he would…"

"OMG! Where's Freddie? And if someone kidnapped him? And if he got lost in the street? I'll call the police!!" She was already turning to go back inside the apartment to get the phone, when I shouted.

"Oh! Now I remember! He said he would be at… at… at the Groovy Smoothie!" I lied.

"Oh, are you sure?"

" Yeah! Of course! I'll go there now!"

"Okay so… but if he's not there please tell me, 'cuz I'll call the police!"

"Sure"

Then I left. I didn't know where Freddie was, but I had to tell her I knew, 'cuz if I didn't, she would call the cops, and she would go search for Freddie with me, and would obligate him to go straight home, and I don't want it to happen, 'cuz I need to talk to him alone, and a chance like this can take too much time to happen again.

I decided to go to the Groovy Smoothie, 'cuz maybe he could be in there, getting a smoothie before going home or something like that. In the lobby, I saw Lewbert sleeping and snoring, luckily, so I wouldn't have to hear him yelling at me.

I crossed the street, and entered the Groovy Smoothie. I looked at each table twice, but I didn't find him. _Where's him?_ I thought to myself. I was almost giving up, I couldn't find him, but then, I remembered something.

When all that stuff about the first kiss happened, when Sam told eberybody that Freddie had never kissed a girl, when everybody was laughing at him, when he didn't want to go anywhere, he stayed in one place. And maybe he could be in there now!

I crossed the street again, going back to Bushwell Plaza, but this time, Lewbert was awake.

"DON'T STEP ON MY FLOOR!!" He yelled.

I ignored, I had more important things to do than reply his ridiculous and annoying sentences that he yells at everybody who passes by the lobby everyday.

I climbed up the stairs to the 8th floor. I passed by the apartments almost running. I walked to the window and finally saw Freddie sitting on the stairs and looking to the Seattle lights.

He had the same look on his face that he had when we were watching that movie earlier. _What is he doing here? And why did he lie to me saying that he would go home, but instead of going home he came here? Well, there's only one way to find out._Then, I sat next to him.

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**Author's Note: So, what did you think?**

**Hope you liked!**

**Sorry 'cuz it's a little shorter then the others! **

**I won't be able to upload it tomorrow, but I'll try to upload it on thursday!! **

**And now? Review, review, review!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	4. Chapter 4: Dreaming

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world!**

**Sorry, but I couldn't upload this story for the last few days! School, english course, tests... you know what I mean, right?**

**So, here is another chapter of iKnow it, and so does everybody! **

**Disclaimer: Okay, I'll check True or False to explain something to you!**

**(T) I own my chinchilas**

**(T) I own the candy bar I'm eating right now**

**(F) I own iCarly**

**(F) I own the song**

**I think you understood, right? But for the slow ones: I DON'T OWN iCARLY!! :( **

**And I don't own the song either!**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

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Chapter 4: Dreaming

_I don't know what I'm doing here. I am in somewhere dark, walking, but I don't know where I'm going to. Suddenly, I walked into something, and it almost fell on the floor, but I was fast enough to hold it before it reached the floor._

_I took it, and I think it was a microphone. _Where am I? And what's happening?_ I thought to myself. And suddenly, a light came from nowhere and was on me, and it was like those lights that there are on music shows and stuff._

_Then, I heard a melody, a melody of a song I liked very much. And I don't know why, but I started to sing._

**I've always been the kind of girl  
That hid my face  
So afraid to tell the world  
What I've got to say  
But I have this dream  
Right inside of me  
I'm gonna let it show, it's time  
To let you know  
To let you know**

_Then I could see the people who were in front of me. They were sitting on chairs and watching me sing. I have never sung in public, and nobody knew I liked to sing, but I didn't stop._

**This is real, this is me  
I'm exactly where I'm suppose to be, now  
Gonna let the light, shine on me  
Now I've found, who I am  
There's no way to hold it in  
No more hiding who I wanna be  
This is me**

_I continued singing, and by the people's faces, they were enjoying it._

**Do you know what it's like  
To feel so in the dark  
To dream about a life  
Where you're the shining star  
Even though it seems  
Like it's too far away  
I have to believe in myself  
It's the only way**

**This is real, This is me  
I'm exactly where I'm suppose to be, now  
Gonna let the light, shine on me  
Now I've found, who I am  
There's no way to hold it in  
No more hiding who I wanna be  
This is me**

_Then, somebody started singing behind me._

**You're the voice I hear inside my head  
The reason that I'm singing  
I need to find you, I gotta find you  
You're the missing piece I need  
The song inside of me  
I need to find you, I gotta find you**

_And I started singing with him, but I couldn't see his face. _

**This is real, this is me  
I'm exactly where I'm suppose to be, now  
Gonna let the light, shine on me  
Now I've found, who I am  
There's no way to hold it in  
No more hiding who I wanna to be**

_And then he came near me, and now I could see his face… FREDDIE?! _Okay, what the hell is going on here? I'm singing with Freddie?! _But I didn't stop, and I don't know why. He's so amazing singing! Oh, wait, did I just said that Freddork is amazing on something? _

**This is me  
You're the missing piece I need  
The song inside of me (this is me)  
You're the voice I hear inside my head  
The reason that I'm singing**

_Now we were really close to each other, and the distance was staying smaller at each second, and for some reason, I was kinda liking to stay near him and _WHAT AM I THINKING?! I must be out of my mind.

**Now I've found, who I am  
There's no way to hold it in  
No more hiding who I wanna be  
This is me**

_When we finished the music, we we're really, but really close to each other. I was looking deep into his eyes, and so was him. I could hear the people clapping, but suddenly I felt something, something really strong that made me lean in, and he did the same. Our lips touched and I felt sparks. If I could, I would stop the time and make this moment least forever. But then, I woke up._

I opened my eyes and found myself on the Shay's couch, and the just thing I remember was the beginning of some horror movie that we were going to watch.

Then, the dream came to my head. How could I ever have a dream like this? I mean, it made me remember about that night on the fire escape…

Not that I like to remember it, but I kinda liked it… OH, NOT AGAIN! I can't have liked it, that was a night I never want to remember! I kissed a dork! A sweet, smart and hot dork… WAIT!!! DID I JUST SAID THAT FREDWARD IS HOT?!! I'm definitely out of my mind! I can't think Freddork is hot!

_But when_ _you kissed him you felt spark… _where did that came from? Well, it's true that I felt sparks but I never really thought about it. I mean, I can't like Freddork, well, not in this way…

Freddie is a dork and… wait, did I just called him by his real name? Man, I might be crazy…_or maybe… you just like him_… WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!

Oh, that's so confusing… there's a war in my head! One side is saying that I hate Freddie, but the other…

Aw man, am I falling for Freddie?

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**Author's Note: Soooooo, what did you think?**

**The song is 'This is me' - Demi Lovato (that one that she sings in the end of Camp Rock with Joe Jonas)**

**And iThink They Kissed will premiere today!! I can't believe it!! Finally!!!**

**And now, what will you do? No, you won't steal my candy bar! Yes, review!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	5. Chapter 5: Should I tell?

**Author's Note: Hello People of the world!**

**And here it is! The next chapter of iKnow it and so does everybody!!**

**Thank you so much for the people who reviewed and/or added this story to favorites and/or just read! You guys are the best!!**

**Disclaimer: Uh... let's see here... my birth certificate... aw, my name is not Dan Schneider! So sadly I don't own iCarly! *sniff* :(**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

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Chapter 5: Should I tell?

**Freddie's POV**

I looked to the person, and wasn't Sam, was Carly.

"Hey" she said

"Hey" I replied

"So… didn't you say that you needed to see something at home?"

"Oh…yeah... I decided to come here first"

"And what are you doing here?"

"Nothing, just looking at the Seattle lights… thinking…" I bit my lip, I shouldn't have said I was thinking, and if she asked me what I was thinking about?

"Thinking?" Great! I couldn't say what I was thinking about, so I tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, so… how did you know I was here?"

" Well, I looked for you in other places… first, in your apartment. I asked your mother if I could talk to you but she said you weren't there and that she thought you were at my apartment, then she started to panic, but then I told her I knew where you were 'cuz if I didn't she would probably have a heart attack, or call the police, then I went to the Groovy Smoothie, but you weren't there. I was almost giving up, but then I remembered about that time that you didn't want to go anywhere 'cuz of all that stuff that happened when Sam told everybody that you had never kissed a girl, and I remembered that you stayed here, so I came back to Bushwell Plaza, and now I'm here.

"Yeah, I see…"

"So, what were you thinking about before I came" Damn. Exactly the question I didn't want to hear! Why did she had to ask it? I have to think on something…

"Oh… I was… thinking…on… the movie!" The movie? This was the best thing I could come up with?

"The movie?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah… it was… really… scaring…" Damn! How can't I say something intelligent?

"Freddie, you can tell me" she said sweetly.

"Tell you what? I've already told you that I was thinking about how scaring the movie was!"

"But I want the truth!"

"This is the truth!"

"I know it's not the truth Freddie, 'cuz I know you weren't paying attention on the movie!"

"Of course I was!"

"No, you were not! I saw it! I could see that your eyes were on the screen, bur your mind wasn't there, you were thinking on something, and then you said that you would go home, but you didn't, instead of it you came here, and when I asked you what you were doing, you said that you were thinking, and I know there's something on your mind that your trying to hide from me, but I can't help you if you don't tell me…"

"Carly, I don't need you help"

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"Why don't you just admit it! It would make everything so much easier!"

"I won't admit that I need help 'cuz I don't!"

"I'm not talking about this"

"What?"

"It's not this that I want you to admit"

"So what is it?"

"I want you to admit that you like Sam!"

"What?!"

"I know you like Sam!"

Damn! How can she know?!! And what do I say?! I can't tell her, or maybe I can… No! I can't!

"Freddie, you can tell me…" she said sweetly.

And now, should I tell?

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**Author's Note: Haha, cliffhanger!**

**Will Freddie tell Carly about his feelings for Sam?**

**And now...**

**Review, review, review!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	6. Chapter 6: I'll help

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world!!!**

**And here I am again!!!**

**Thank you so much for the reviews!! And thank you so much for who added this story to favorites!! You guys are the best!!!!**

**Disclaimer: Last night I had a dream, and in the dream I owned iCarly!! But then, my stupid cell phone rang I came back to the reality! And guess what? In the real world, I don't own iCarly!! Dan Schneider does! :(**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

Chapter 6: I'll help

**Carly's POV**

"Freddie, you can tell me" I said, hoping he would admit that he likes Sam. If he doesn't admit it, I can't help.

He thought for a while, and then he spoke.

"I don't like Sam… I... "

"Freddie, why don't you just admit it?!" I cut him off "Why is it so difficult to…" but then he cut me off.

"Carly, let me finish first!" he yelled and I nodded for him to continue "I don't like Sam, I..." he stopped, like he was a little afraid of saying what he was about to say, but then, he continued "I... think I love her"

Finally!! I can't believe that he just said that! I thought it'd be a little more difficult to make him admit it! I couldn't help the huge smile on my face, and I wasn't trying do hide it.

"Finally!! But why didn't you tell me before?"

" 'cuz I wasn't sure yet"

"Since when do you like her?"

"Since we…" he was going to tell me, but then he stopped, but I think I already knew what he was going to say, so I completed his sentence.

"Since you two kissed?"

His eyes widened, 'cuz he didn't know I knew about their little secret, well, he didn't know until now.

"How did you…"

"Melanie" I cut him off.

He looked me with a questioning look, and then I explained.

"Do you remember about your date with Melanie?" he just nodded, and I continued " and do you remember that she kissed you?" he nodded again "well, I was talking to her on the phone and then this subject came, and she told me that after she kissed you, you said something like 'we swore we'd never do this again!', and I think this sentence speaks by itself.

He thought for a moment, maybe remembering about the date, and about the sentence.

"Aren't you mad at us?"

"What do you mean?" I didn't understand his question

"Well, we hid it from you…"

"Oh! Of course not! Well, when I found out I was just a little mad, but the happiness was bigger"

"Happiness?"

"Yeah, I knew you two liked each other! Everybody can see it! You're meant to be together!"

"Well, not really…" he had a sad look on his face.

"Huh?"

"I know Sam doesn't like me back"

"Of course does!"

"No, she doesn't!"

"How can you be so sure of it?"

"I just know it!"

"Freddie, of course she likes you too, she just thinks in the same way you do, she likes you but she thinks you don't like her back, so she pretends she doesn't like you"

"Did she tell you this?"

"No, but…"

"So, how can you be so sure about it?"

"I just know it"

For the look on his face I knew he didn't believe me. He looked away from me, and stared at the stars, and I knew he was lost in thoughts. He was so sure that Sam didn't feel the same way as him. I have to help them, well, now I know what Freddie feels for Sam, but now I have to make Sam admit it.

I stood up.

"I'll help"

He looked at me and smiled. Then he spoke.

"Thanks"

I smiled back and left, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sooo, Carly's gonna help Freddie... but how? uhm...**

**And did you guys see iThink They Kissed?! I loved it! I just think it could have ended better!**

**And now... review!!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	7. Chapter 7: Answer

**Author's note: Hello people of the world!!!**

**I'm really, really sorry that I couldn't upload my stories for a while, but I didn't have time at all! You know, classes on Saturday :( , tests and other things!! But now I'm back!! Don't worry, I'll never abandon any fic!! ;)**

**And did anyone see iSpeed Date?! I felt so bad for Sam!!! She was so sad!!! :( But you could see the jealous on her facewhen she saw Freddie and Carly dancing! Enjoy your moment creddiers, 'cuz it won't last for too long... muahahaha (no offence) **

**Okay, I think I've already talked too much, so let's go for what really matters!**

**Disclaimer: My lawyer is trying to talk to Dan, but he's not being really successful! I think I should have hired a human lawyer to do it and not my chinchilla... :p And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! **

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

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Chapter 7: Answer

**Sam's POV**

_Am I falling for Freddie?_

I can't be falling for him! I mean, he's smart, funny, hot… AND THERE I GO AGAIN! This is so confusing! I know that I can't stop thinking about him but it doesn't mean I like him in this way, right? I laid down on the couch for a while, and many scenes came in my head.

-------------------------------------FLASHBACK------------------------------------------------------

We were sitting on Shay's couch, watching the dance videos for iCarly, and I rested my head of Freddie's shoulder. It was so comfortable, and I don't know why, but I wanted to stay like that. But then he moved his shoulder and I had to pull away from him, but I didn't want to.

The scene flipped, and now we were at the lobby, Carly was near the door, Freddie and I in the middle of the lobby, and Lewbert was asleep. Freddie and I were betting that I couldn't stop insulting him for one week, and then he asked me:

"Do you wanna kiss me?"

"Kiss you? I'd rather…" I wonder what would have happened if I said yes…

Then, the scene flipped again, and now I was in the hallway of Bushwell Plaza, and Freddie was there too.

"I don't believe you" he said.

"Okay, one more time, Carly was my best friend first and I'm taking her back!" I tried to say it like Missy said.

"There's no way Missy said that!"

"She did!"

"You know, maybe Carly was right! Maybe you're just jealous of Missy!"

"Kay, just ..forget it… don't believe me" I said walking away, and I didn't know what to do. If even Freddie didn't believe, I didn't have nobody to ask for help, but then I heard Freddie saying.

"Tell me one reason why I should believe you!"

I turned back, maybe there was hope.

" 'cuz I came here"

He looked at me with a questionable look, like it was no big deal, then I continued.

"Have I ever came to you for help before? For anything?"

Then, I left. Well, at least it made him think, but I didn't believe he would help me. But I was wrong, 'cuz gave the six month cruise just to get rid of Missy and help me (yeah, Carly told me about it, but I never told him I knew about it).

And the scene flipped again, and now I could see Freddie on the fire escape, listening to his pearpod. I knocked on the window and he looked at me. He made me a gestured for me to come in, and I sat near the window.

"What's up?" I asked casually.

"Nothing" he said standing up to turn down the volume of the song which was playing on his pearpod, Running Away by AM.

"Meatball?" I offered. I took it one from the bowl when I let it in the hallway, but suddenly I felt like I should offer it to him.

"No… thanks…" I threw the meatball away and looked at him. Then, I said something I don't say very often.

"I'm sorry,... about telling people you've never kissed anyone" I looked at him and then continued "And about putting blue cheese dressing in your shampoo bottle...and about sending your cell phone to Cambodia" He laughed at this one "Everything, okay?"

"So this means that you're not gonna mess with me anymore?"

"No, I'm still gonna mess with you, I'm just gonna apologize every few year so I can start fresh again" _duh_

"Good"

"Good?" _Good? Did he just say good?_

"Yeah, it'd be too weird if you didn't make my life miserable all the time" he said, and then he continued " But maybe you could pull back just a little bit…"

"I don't think so"

"Yeah, I didn't either"

I started to think about this thing about 'first kiss' and how people get so freaked out over it. I don't understand why people care so much about it.

"It's so dumb" I said.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"You know, how people get all freaked out over their first kiss… stupid"

"So, you weren't lying, you've really never kissed anyone?"

"Nope" I looked to the Seattle lights and continued "Sometimes I just wish I just..could get it out of the way"

"Yeah, I know, me too"

"Right, like stopping worrying about it"

"Yeah" He said and then he laughed a little.

"What?"

"No, it's.. nothing"

"Tell me"

"No, ...it's dumb"

"Say it!"

"Okay, I was just gonna say…"

"That we, should kiss?" I completed his sentence.

"You're gonna break my arm now right?"

"No"

"Well, should we? Just then both of us can get it over with?"

I looked to my side and sighed, to think. I don't know why but I kinda wanted to kiss him.

"Just to get it over with" I stated

"Just to get it over with" He agreed

"And we swear we'll go straight back to hating each other as soon as it's over"

"Totally, and we won't tell anyone"

"Never"

We started at each other for a few seconds, and then I said:

"Well, lean"

And he leaned. When our lips touched, I felt sparks. Everything they say on those movies about how is it when you kiss somebody you really like made sense for me. It was magic, but it didn't least much, and he pulled away. There was an awkward silence, and neither of us knew what to say.

"That was…" he started

"Nice"

"Yeah, nice…uhm…"

"Good… work" I didn't have anything better to say.

"Thank you, you too"

I turned, but when I was about to leave, he called me.

"Hey!" I turned to face him, and then he continued "I hate you" I smiled and replied " Hate you too" and I left.

----------------------------------------------END FLASHBACK---------------------------------------

Why is this so confusing? I always said and thought that I hated him! Why can't it continue like this? Then, I heard footsteps, so I pretended I was asleep. I could hear Spencer in the kitchen, but I didn't open my eyes. I heard the front door open and then close, and I heard Carly's voice, saying something about Freddie, but I couldn't pay attention, 'cuz I was too tired.

And now I know the answer to my question, **yes, I'm falling for Freddie Benson! **

But if you ask me I'll never admit it at loud!! And slowly, I fell asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: Soooooo, what do you think? Am I doing a good job with this fic? Please let me know!!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	8. Chapter 8: I knew it!

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world!**

**Sorry, I couldn't upload for a while! But now I'm here!**

**Okay, this chapter is the first chapter on Spencer's POV, and, well, this isn't a REALLY important chapter for the story! The important part is the beginning, but in the end, it becomes a little random 'cuz my silly brain decided to do something a little crazy.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned iCarly! Oh, wait, I don't have Fairy Godparents... so my wish won't come true... yet. muahahahaha (this was supposed to be me laughing evilly). And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly!**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

Chapter 8: I Knew it!

**Spencer's POV**

That movie was really scaring!! _That wasn't real, that wasn't real_ I repeated to myself. I'll have many nightmares about it!

What can I do to stop thinking about the movie?… watch TV? No! An horror movie can be on… computer? Definitely no… eat!! Of course! Food! I ran to the kitchen and looked at the fridge.

And then I had a great idea, _I'll make some spaghetti tacos! _I started to take the ingredients, and heard a whisper. I looked over to the couch and saw Sam asleep. She was whispering something like 'this is real, this is me'.

I continued doing my spaghetti tacos, and then, a few minutes later, Carly came in.

"Where were you?" I asked her.

"With Freddie, I needed to talk to him" I looked at her with a questioning look, and she understood it. She looked at Sam on the couch, like she was making sure that Sam was asleep, and then she spoke.

"I was talking to Freddie about Sam"

"About Sam?"

"Yeah, I was trying to make him admit that he likes her"

"And what did he say?"

"Well, he said he didn't like her"

"Oh…"

"He said that he thinks he loves her!"

"I knew it! I knew it!" I yelled and started to jump around, but then Carly stopped me and pointed to Sam. I had totally forgotten that she was still there sleeping.

"And now, the next part of my plan is make Sam admit it!" she whispered to me.

"Plan?"

"Yeah, I call it **The Seddie Plan**!"

"Seddie?"

"Yeah! 'S' from Sam, and 'eddie' from Freddie! It sounds cute doesn't it?"

"Yeah! It does!" and then I asked "How are you gonna make Sam admit that she likes Freddie?"

"I don't know… it might be difficult"

"Yeah, but if you need help with anything, I'll be ready!"

"Okay, thanks Spencer!"

"No prob" I turned to the oven, but then I turned back to her and asked "Spaghetti taco?"

"Sure"

And we ate the spaghetti tacos.

**(A/N: Okay, now comes the random part) **

Later that night…

_I was running, and running, and running in the forest, but my legs weren't fast enough. I could hear someone behind me, following me, but I couldn't see who was behind me. It was like the movie we were watching earlier._

_I tried to look, but then I fell on the floor. I stood up, but then something was behind me, standing behind me ready to attack. I turned and saw it, and it was… it was… a gigantic banana!!_

_It had a mad face painted on it, and it's eyes were focused on me. I tried to run, but when I turned around, I crashed into another gigantic banana. I looked around, and I saw that I was surrounded by 15 gigantic bananas, and they were walking in my direction._

_They were nearer at each second, and suddenly, they opened their mouths and had many pointing teeth. I screamed, but no one appeared to help me._

_I screamed again, and then, I woke up._

I looked at the clock, 4 o'clock in the morning. _I have to stop watching horror movie at night!_ I thought. I closed my eyes again and fell asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sooooooo, what did you think?**

**I know the last part was a little random (a little?), but I thought it was kinda funny! **

**And now, review! Please (give you big puppy dog eyes)!!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	9. Chapter 9: The Song

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world!!**

**Sorry, but I couldn't upload any of my fics during the week! :( But now I'm here!**

**Disclaimer: Okay, I have something really important to tell you, if you want to hire a lawyer to help you convincing Dan Schneider to sell iCarly for you, don't hire your chinchilla, 'cuz mine is not being really successful! And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly!**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

Chapter 9: The song

**Sam's POV**

When I woke up, I saw Carly and Spencer in the kitchen having breakfast. I stood up and walked towards them.

"Hey! I smell pancakes!"

"Hey Sam!" they said simultaneously

I was eating my pancakes, when I heard the door opening. My heart started to beat really fast, just on the thought that might be _him_. And when I listened his voice, I felt like my heart was going to explode at any moment.

"Hi Carly!" he said

"Hey Freddie!"

"Sam"

"Hey Freddnub!" I tried to seem normal.

"Hey Spence!"

"Hey Freddo!"

I tried not to make eye contact, but I couldn't help it. I like to stare at him… and before I noticed we were going to school. Mrs. Benson drove all of us to school. Freddie on the front seat and me and Carly on the back. I sat right behind him, so I could stare at him without the chance of him noticing it. Man, even the back of his head is cute and… ok, now I'm being paranoid.

We arrived early at school, and I went straight to my locker. When the bell rang, Carly and I went to class, but I didn't say anything in the way. Carly and I have the first class together, and Freddie too. It's Mrs. Briggs class, and when we arrived the classroom, Freddie was already there. I sat right behind him, and Carly sat next to me.

After some minutes, the class started. Mrs. Briggs started to talk about something that I didn't know because I wasn't paying attention at all. I decided to draw in the last page of my notebook. I started to draw some random things, but then I started to write some sentences:

**Just keep tuggin, pushin, pullin  
On my little heartstrings**

Uhm…I liked it. I continued writing, and the sentences didn't stop coming to my head.

**Got me all tied up in knots  
Anytime I see your face  
Oh it brings out  
It brings out the girl in me**

Yeah, I'm writing a song about my feelings for Freddie. Well, it's the just way I can get it out of my chest, 'cuz I can't tell anybody about it. I can't tell Carly, 'cuz if I do, I know she will try to make a plan or something like that to get us together, but I know that Freddie doesn't feel the same way for me.

**Don't know just how ya did it  
But ya got me real good  
Hook, line and sinker  
Like I knew you could  
But you don't even notice  
Boy I wish you would**

I didn't notice but the class was finished. When the bell rang, I quickly closed my notebook before anyone could see that I was writing a song, a LOVE song. The day passed really slowly, and in the end, I got some more sentences to my song:

**I can't help myself  
I can't help but smile  
Every time I see your face  
And we've never met  
I bet you don't know my name  
Am I outta my mind  
I think that I might be goin crazy  
Coz my heart is yours to have and hold or break  
How'd you get to be so close  
When you're so far away**

My mom drove me and Carly back to Bushwell Plaza. Carly and I walked to Carly's apartment and Freddie to his. When we walked in the apartment, we saw a gigantic plastic duck **(A/N: like those ones that kids play with on the bathtub)** dressed like a cowboy and next to a giant banana. Then, Spencer came from his room and looked at us.

"Why?" Carly asked pointing to the sculpture

"I don't know, I just had a dream last night with gigantic bananas, and I like plastic ducks…and it looked funny dressed like a cowboy…"

"Oh" Carly said.

"Whatever" I said and walked o the fridge to grab some ham. Man, I'm starving. After some seconds, Freddie walked in.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Freddie"

"Sup Freddichinni?"

He just rolled his eyes. Man, he looks so great today… and hot… and THERE I GO AGAIN! Man, I need to stop thinking on him in this way.

He looked at Spencer's sculpture and was about to say something, but Carly cut him off.

"I don't know"

He just nodded and walked to the kitchen, where I was. He passed by me and I tried not to make eye contact.

"So let's rehearsal just one more time before the show?" Freddie asked drinking iced tea.

"Sure" Carly said and we headed upstairs to the iCarly studio.

* * *

**Author's Note: Soooooooooooooooooooo, what did you think?**

**Reviews make me happy!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	10. Chapter 10: The Show

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world!**

**I'm really really sorry that I didn't upload this fic for a while! But now it's here! Oh, and sorry 'cuz in the last chapter I forgot to say that I don't own the music! It's So close by Jennette McCurdy!**

**Disclaimer: Okay, I typed a transference contract to give to Dan but my chinchilla-lawyer decided that it'd be more fun if he ate it, so now I'm trying to take it back from him. "BOB, COME BACK HERE NOW!!" Okay, just kidding, and for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly!**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

Chapter 10: The show

"In 5, 4, 3, 2..." Freddie said his famous sentence pointing to us.

"I'm Carly" Carly said.

"And I'm Sam!" I said

"And this is iCarly!"

"The only one web show that helps you with your history homework!"

"And teaches you how to cook in a toilet!"

"And now it's time for one…"

"Messin' with Lewbert!" We said together.

"Today, we're gonna pull the best prank ever on Lewbert!!" I said

"We're gonna turn off the lobby lights with this remote" Carly said showing the remote that Freddie made (and there I go again calling him Freddie), and then continued " and then with this microphones, we're gonna talk to Lewbert with the monster voices!"

"Show Lewbert for the public Freddie!" I said.

"Turning Lewbert's cam on" he said and then the image came on the TV screen. Lewbert was there, sitting on the chair, eating a sandwich.

"And now, turn off the lights Sam!" Carly said for me.

When I pressed the button on the remote, everything in the lobby became black, and Lewbert screamed.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" He shouted.

He stood up and walked to the front door, but before he could reach it, Carly spoke on the microphone:

"You're not going anywhere!" her voice was really deep.

"What?! Where did that came from?"

"We are the ghosts from your past, from the people you did bad things!" I said.

"So who are you? Truddy, or Stacy, or Joey, or Mark, or Suzie…

"It doesn't matter!" I shouted "What matters is that we're here to punish you!!"

"Punish me?"

"Yeah" Carly said.

"You don't scare me"

"Really?" I said and then Gibby (who was dressed like a zombie) appeared behind Lewbert. He put his right hand on Lewbert's shoulder, and then Lewbert turned yelling "WHAT?!" and saw Gibby, he started to scream like a little girl and run out of the building, but he ran into the door and fainted. Then I turned the lobby lights on and Gibby waved to the camera.

"And that was the best 'Messin' with Lewbert' ever!" I said.

"And now we're gonna watch a video that was sent by one of our viewers!" Carly said and the video appeared on the screen. While the video was rolling, I couldn't stop looking at Freddie, but then he turned to me, and I quickly looked away. I don't know if he noticed it, but I knew he was looking at me, you know when you feel that somebody is looking at you? So, I'm feeling exactly the same. When the video ended, Freddie turned his camera back to us and we continued with the show, and I tried not to make eye contact with him, 'cuz I knew that if I looked at him again, he would see.

"And this was our show for today, but we'll be right here again next week for another iCarly!!" Carly said.

"And now it's time for a…" I said and pressed a button on my remote and we did a 'random dancing!'

"Kay, bye!" Carly said after we stopped dancing randomly.

"Bye" I said

"And… we're… clear!" Freddie said. "Great show girls!"

"Thanks" we both said at the same time and we all went downstairs.

* * *

**Author's Note: Soooo, what did you think?**

**Tell me, please!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	11. Chapter 11: Writing

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world!**

**This is me and my silly brain again!! ;P**

**Disclaimer: "Hello, I wanted to hire a lawyer, a good one... hello... hello oh, Bob!" I was trying to hire a new lawyer to help me trying to convince Dan to sell iCarly to me, but my chinchilla didn't like the idea of being fired, so he bit the telephone cable until it stopped working! "Bob come back here!" Just kidding, and for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly!**

**Oh, and I don't own the song either!**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

Chapter 11: Writing

When we went downstairs, I took some ham from the fridge and sat on the couch. Freddie sat in front of the computer and started to see some stuff I don't want to know about, but I couldn't help looking at him. _When will this dork realize that I like him? _

Spencer was doing some spaghetti tacos (uhmm) and singing. "I'm cooking, I'm cooking things, cooking things for people to eat, I'm cooking, I'm cooking things, things that people will chew" Carly was in the kitchen with him, helping him with the food. After some minutes of flipping through the channels on the TV (there wasn't nothing good on right now), Carly called from the kitchen:

"Hey guys, the spaghetti tacos are ready!"

I didn't wait a second, I just stood up and ran to the kitchen. Man, I was starving! I sat on the table and Freddie sat on the opposite side of the table, across from me, and this means that he's right in front of me.

While we ate, Spencer didn't stop talking about some crazy idea he had for a new sculpture about a flying turtle and a green mushroom (please don't ask), but I wasn't paying much attention on him, and I think you know who I was paying attention on.

After the 'spaghetti taco time' we sat on the couch to watch TV and Spencer went to do something in his room and for my happiness, Carly sat right in the middle of the couch, separating me and Freddie.

Now, that night on the fire escape doesn't get out of my mind. I can't forget how was the feeling of his lips pressed onto mines, and how badly I want it to happen again… but I know it won't, 'cuz I know Freddie doesn't feel the same way for me. Why does he have to like Carly and not me? Is he blind or something? I try to get his attention all the time, but he doesn't notice me! He'd even dated that skunk bag Valerie, but he never seemed to notice me, it was always Carly, Carly, Carly, and Carly, and never me.

And I don't know what is happening to me, I've never cared about it, I just thought it was ridiculous, but now, it kinda hurts me.

_You're just jealous… _a voice came in my head

What?! I'm not jealous!!

_Yes, you are…_

No, I'm not!!

_Yes, you are…_

NO, I'M NOT!!

_Just admit it!!_

No, I'm not gonna admit it, now shut up!!

_Admit…_

Hell, stop it!!!

_I'm not gonna stop it until you admit you're jealous…_

"Shut up!!"

Then, Carly and Freddie turned to me with puzzled faces. Shit! I can't believe I said it at loud!!! And now? What do I say?

"Er.. I'll …see… something… upstairs!" I said and I almost ran upstairs to the iCarly studio trying not to make eye contact with them. I sat on one beanbag chair in the studio and closed my eyes.

Man, how can a boy make me feel so confused? It have never happened to me before! And I'd never felt like this for a boy before either.

I need to get it out from my chest, but I can't. I'm not ready to tell anyone about it, not even Carly.

I opened my eyes and looked over the studio, and saw my backpack. I stood up and walked towards the chair. I opened my bag, took my notebook and sat back on the beanbag chair. I opened the notebook on the last page, where I started writing the song and continued it.

**I think you might be close to perfect  
Girls you know what I mean  
He's got a face straight out  
Of a magazine  
Gotta pinch myself  
To prove he aint a dream  
Oh oh oh**

Oh yeah, Freddie definitely has a face straight out of a magazine, and not just his face… he's so gorgeous… and there I go again!! I have to stop thinking about Freddie this way!

**I can't help myself  
Now my secrets out  
I can't help but smile  
Everytime I see your face  
And we've never met  
I bet you don't know my name**

Yeah, he doesn't notice me, and sometimes I wonder if he have ever thought on me instead of thinking on Carly… nah, I know he hasn't, I mean, just if one day he'd ever thought about the girl who always call him names and beats him up.

**  
Am I outta my mind  
I think that I might be goin crazy  
Coz my heart is yours to have and hold or break  
How'd you get to be so close  
When you're so far away**

****

I wish you were mine all mine  
Mine all mine  
I wish you were mine all mine  
I wish you were mine

I wish him so badly to be mine. Mine, all mine…

**I can't help but smile  
Every time I see your face  
And we've never met  
I bet you don't know my name  
Am I outta my mind  
I think that I might be goin crazy  
Coz my heart is yours to have and hold or break  
How'd you get to be so close  
When you're so far away  
How'd you get to be so close  
When you're so far away**

When I finished the song, I read it over and over again, I've never written about my thoughts in my life… I have never had I diary, 'cuz I never thought I'd need one. I felt a little better after writing it, after getting a little part of it of my chest, but it didn't solve the problem.

Then, I heard someone cleaning the throat behind me. I turned and saw the person standing near the door looking at me.

* * *

**Author's Note: Soooo, what did you think?**

**Who's the person standing near the door? Carly? Freddie? Spencer? A hobo? My evil Portuguese teacher? haha, cliff hanger!**

**And now, review!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	12. Chapter 12: Questions

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world!! (Okay, I need to stop saying that in ALL the chapters!)**

**So, I don't think I have anything interesting or important to say so... on with what's important!  
**

**Disclaimer: Okay, I need to tell you something, my chinchilla-lawyer wasn't being really successful on talking to Dan and getting me iCarly, so I thought that three chinchillas working on the case would be better than just one but... well, I was wrong. So I still don't own iCarly! :(**

**And now, enjoy!**

**:D  
**

* * *

Chapter 12: Questions

**Sam's POV**

When I saw Carly standing next to the door, I quickly hid the notebook under the beanbag chair being careful not to let her notice, and I think that luckily she didn't.

"Hey Sam!" She said as she walked towards me and sat down on the beanbag chair next to me.

"Hey" I replied.

"So… what was that about?"

"Oh… nothing…"

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, nothing!" I knew she wasn't going to give up, so I tried to change the subject.

"So... did you notice that Gibby had his shirt on for almost two whole classes? That's miracle!"

"Sam, don't try to change the subject! There's something bothering you, I can see it, you're my best friend"

"Carly, there's nothing bothering me" I lied.

"Sam, you can tell me whatever it is"

Could I really tell her? I mean, should I tell her? Well, she's my best friend and all but... I don't know, because I'm sure if I tell her, she'll come up with some silly plan to get us together, but I know that Freddie doesn't feel the same way I feel for him, so what should I tell Carly? Maybe I could tell her part of the truth...

"Okay, okay, there's something in my mind... bothering me" I started, and she looked at me curiously, so I continued "Well, there's this... guy, and I kinda like him... a lot, and by a lot I really mean A LOT. But I'm not ready to tell anyone about it, so I don't feel ready to tell you who he is... you understand?" I said and looked at her, waiting for her reaction.

She stared at me for a long moment, probably thinking about what I just said, but she didn't say anything. After a long moment of silence that was already starting to annoy me, the corner of her lips started forming a smile, but I think she didn't want to show it much, so she kinda tried to hide it, unsuccessfully.

"Do I know him?" She asked, and I thought about the answer I should give her.

"He goes to Ridgeway" I said simply, there were a lot of cute guys in Ridgeway, so she couldn't really figure out that HE was Freddie, right? I hope so. I decided that waiting for her to ask any more questions about who was HIM was too much risk of her finding out that HE was Freddie, so I decided that the best thing to do now was leave.

"I think I'll just go home now" I said and quickly, before she could argue, got up and grabbed my backpack that was on a chair near me.

"You're going home?"

"Yep"

"Don't you want to spend the night?"

"No thanks, see ya tomorrow!" I said as I left the studio. I heard a 'see ya' before I rushed downstairs going straight to the front door and to the stairs, leaving Bushwell Plaza and heading home.

* * *

**Author's Note: I love reviews!**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D  
**


	13. Chapter 13: Man Talk

****

Author's Note: Hey guys! (Ha! I finally started an author's note without saying 'Hello people of the world'! I'm so proud of myself... XD) Anyway, sorry for the long wait for this chapter! But here it is! So I'd better just shut up now and go on with what's important!

**But first...**

**I want to thank you guys for all the awesome reviews I've got for this fic so far! You guys ROCK!**

**And second...**

**Disclaimer: Okay, just another tip - When you think about firing your chinchilla-lawyers because they didn't do a good job trying to get Dan Schneider to sell you iCarly, just remember that chinchillas can be pretty... temperamental sometimes, and that's exactly why I'm writing this hidden in a closet, so Bob won't find me and- wait, who... Bob? How did you get in here? And where did you find this flare gun? Uh... I... gotta go guys... see you later... I hope... (And for the slow ones: I DON'T OWN iCARLY!) ;P**

**And now, enjoy! :)**

Chapter 13: Man Talk

**Freddie's POV**

We had been watching TV at Carly's after doing iCarly for some time, until Sam said, all of a sudden, that she had to see something upstairs, and then right after she was up there, Carly decided to go after her.

I have to admit that I wondered if I should go up there or not, but I decided not to, I mean, I didn't want to walk in during a girl talk or anything. Okay, I also needed to admit that when I thought about the possibility of the two girls talking about possible crushes they had made me curious, but I soon dropped it.

_It's not like I'm gonna hear Sam telling Carly that she loves me. _I needed to keep telling myself that but it seems like my brain doesn't really understand that.

The thing I never got is why does love have to be so complicated? I mean, it's not simple at all. You can't just walk up to the person you fell in love with and say 'Hey, I love you, do you love me back?". No. And in my situation, if I even think of doing that, I' pretty sure I'll end up with both my arms broken, and Sam would probably never talk to me again. And that doesn't seem … well, you know… good, yeah, not good AT ALL, and I think you have to agree with me on that one.

I just wish that there was someone I could talk to about this, I mean, about this 'I'm in love with someone that hates me' thing, but I really can't think of someone…

I know that I've already talked to Carly, but I don't really think that talking to her about that once more would be a good thing because, well, I'm sure she'll come up with some kind of… 'plan' that won't work out in the end, and then everything will be screwed. I surely can't talk to my mother about this, and I'm 100% sure about that one because I know my mom. Trust me, I know exactly how she'd react to it. My mom still thinks I'm in love with Carly, and if I told you that I was never in love with her, it was only a crush, and that I'm really in love with Sam… well, the scene wouldn't be really… pretty. And there's Spencer…

I paused. I have to admit that I hadn't thought of Spencer… until now. Of course, he's not someone who knows everything about girls, but I've already talked to him more than once asking for advice…

I looked over to the kitchen where Spencer was working on some sculpture made of… hair? Alright…

I stood up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen. There, I stood right next to the computer table, and rested one arm on it.

"Hey Spence" I said, trying to get his attention, and he looked up at me briefly before looking back down at his work.

"Hey Freddo, what goes on?" He asked.

"Uh… can I… talk to you for a moment?" I asked, awkwardly.

"Uh… sure, just wait a sec" Spencer replied as he covered a mass of hair with glue and placed it right on the top of the sculpture. I have to admit that it wasn't a really... delightful scene to watch, but anyway... "So, what do you need? There's cereal in the cabinet"

I stared at him confusedly for a moment before responding to that.

"Uh… thanks but, I don't want any cereal. What I really need is… well, advice"

"Advice? What about? Cereal?" He asked, still working on his sculpture.

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with cereal! It's about… well… girls" When I said that, he looked up at me one more time, but it took him some more seconds to look down again, and when he did, he took off the gloves he had been wearing. Then, he pulled one of the kitchen table chairs closer to him and sat down, more serious, and then gestured towards another chair from the table.

I pulled the other chair near me and sat down, facing Spencer.

"So, little Freddie, what do you need to know from the master of girls here?" Spencer said, sounding proud of himself, and I chuckled lowly. Luckily, he didn't hear it. Or at least he pretended he hadn't.

"Well, Spence I… I need some advice, and I thought that you could possibly… help me" I said, a bit hesitantly.

"C'mon, spit it out kid" Spencer said, encouragingly, and I started.

"Well, I'm kind of... liking this girl" I decided not to say who I was talking about "And... well, I... I think I'm even in love with her, but I... can't just tell her... and, before you ask, no, I'm not talking about Carly" I said, but his face didn't change like he was surprised or anything. Instead of looking surprised like I expected to happen, he looked like he already knew that, and that intriged me.

"I wasn't thinking about Carly" He said with a shy smile playing on the corner of his lips, and then continued talking before I could respond to that. "I completely get your problem Freddie"

"But I haven't even explained it all to you yet..."

"But you don't need to. It's so clear to everyone... well, to everyone but you two. You're in love with her, and she's in love with you, but you've built a so complicated relationship throughout the years that you're too afraid to break the rules and admit what you really feel inside" Spencer said, and I stared at him bewildened. "Well, I need to see some stuff in my room, so... see ya Freddo" I was frozen for a second before I was able to call after him.

"Wait, Spencer!" I called, and he turned around right before he walked in the hallway that led to his room. "How do you-" He cut me off.

"You want some advice? Just follow your heart kiddo, because if you do, you'll know the right thing to do, and also, the right time" He said, and suddenly disappeared into the hallway.

I just sat there, staring at the point he had just disapperared. How could Spencer possibly had figured all that out alone? I mean... is it that obvious that I'm in love with Sam? And could he be right about Sam being in love with me? No... I mean... could he?

My thoughts were interupted by Sam coming, no, correction: running down the stairs and towards the front door, before leaving the apartment without even a glance behind.

I stared at the door for some seconds, but that scene just didn't make sense.

_Something happened up there._ That was what I thought before I stood up from the chair I had been sitting on and walked towards the stairs.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yay! So, it seems like Spencer knows more than he had let out... uhm... **

**And now, I'll tell you guys something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time!**

**Alright, here it goes... Serious lights, please...**

***takes a deep breath***

**Reviews make me smile :D**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**

**:D**


	14. Chapter 14: The Notebook

**Author's Note: Hello people! =D**

**Yes, I know, I haven't updated in quite a while... Please don't shoot! *Holds hands up* I come in peace! =P**

**Well, anyway, sorry for the lack of updates, but I was having some issues trying to organize my free time, since I started high school this year, but now I think everything is normal again =P**

**So yeah, I'll just shut up now and go on with the story! =D**

**Disclaimer: *Phone rings* Hello?.. Bob?... Oh, finally!... So, how was your meeting with Dan?... Wait, what do you mean by 'I didn't go'?... But why didn't you go?... Wait, you're in Hawaii? What are you doing there?... Vacation? What are you talking about? I didn't- No, don't hang up on me! Wait! *Bob hangs up*... Okay, little tip, never send your chinchilla-lawyer alone on a plane. He might go to Hawaii instead of going to LA to talk Dan into handing iCarly over to you... And for the slow ones: I don't own iCarly! XP**

**Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 14: The Notebook

**Sam's POV**

I arrived home in about twenty minutes, and I went straight upstairs to my room. Like always, my mom wasn't at home, but that didn't make a difference anymore. When I reached my room, I dropped my bag on a corner and threw myself on the bed. That one was close... Luckily, I was fast enough to hide the notebook under the beanbag chair before she could see it... _Wait._

In the next moment, I froze.

_No...no, no, no, no, no, I just didn't do that. I mean... I can't be so idiot. I just didn't do that. _I kept telling me myself that as I got up from my bed abruptly and jumped across the room to reach my backpack.

I searched through it for about ten minutes, until I realized what I had done... I had left the notebook at Carly's.

Stupid. Stupid. I'm completely and definitely stupid. How the hell could I have been able to leave the notebook there? I mean, the main reason I left was to avoid Carly founding the notebook, but thanks to myself, I forgot it there. Great. Just great.

I threw myself on the bed again, covering my face with both my hands.

_Oh, c'mon Sam, it can't be that bad…. I mean, there wasn't anything written in there that could lead Carly's thoughts towards the right direction and make her find out about my feelings for Freddie… oh, of course there is!_

In the notebook, I didn't only write the song, there's some other stuff in it. I never had a diary, but usually when I'm bored in classroom, which is like, all the time, I kind of start writing down what I'm thinking, and many times I kind of started writing down some stuff about Freddie, even things like a mixture of our names that I thought of during class…it's called Seddie, the 'S' from Sam and 'eddie' from Freddie… alright, I really think I shouldn't have told you about that but… anyway, I just can't let anyone see that, but I also can't just go back to Carly's to get it, she'd get suspicious about it for sure.

I sighed loudly. Looks like there's nothing I can do right now but wish that Carly won't find the notebook.

_A few minutes earlier..._

**Carly's POV**

I watched as Sam walked out of the studio. She seemed pretty tense since I walked in here, it was like she was hiding something from me… but I knew a way to find out what it was.

I walked towards the beanbag chair Sam had been sitting on and knelt down right next to it.

When I got up here, I saw through the glass of the studio door that Sam was writing something down on a notebook that was lying on her lap, and the moment opened the door, she hid it somewhere. I pretended not to see it, but I did, and now I just needed to find where she hid it, but I kind of already knew where to look for it.

I peered under the beanbag chair, and saw something red right under it… I pulled the red thing out from where it had been, and looked at it. Sam's notebook.

I wondered if I really should look inside... to see what she had written or drawn in it... but now that I really had the chance to do it... I chickened out. Alright, I know that it can sound stupid, but I really don't like peering into people's personal stuff... especially when it's my best friend's personal stuff we're talking about, and even though she's been hiding so much from me lately... Or at least I think she has... I kind of know how she feels, and if I were her, I think I'd do the same.

Anyway, I stared down at the notebook I was holding in my hands and I didn't feel like I should read anything from it, so I decided not to do so. But then, the studio door burst open suddenly, and I immediately, without a single thought, hid the notebook behind my back.

Freddie walked in the studio, and looked at me suspiciously.

"Uh... what you have there?" He asked curiously, but I decided to play dumb.

"What do you mean?" Oh c'mon, don't look at me like that! Playing dumb works… sometimes.

Okay, I know that I promised Freddie I'd help him with all of this, but for now, I can't tell him about this little... investigation, if you could call it that, because I'm not completely sure about Sam's feelings for him.

"Carly, I saw you hiding something behind your back when I walked in. What is it?" He insisted. Alright, playing dumb didn't work. New plan.

"So, I heard you're also going to have a History test this week, do you think-" He cut me off.

"Carly, don't try to change the subject" Okay, changing the subject also didn't work. Just calm down Carly and… try to come up with something. Yeah, but the part of coming up with something that Freddie would believe in wasn't that easy.

"Uh… I'm not trying to change the subject… it's just that… this is my… diary! Yes, it's my diary, and, well, no one knew I still had this thing, and it's filled with so embarrassing stuff from when I was a kid that I can't even let Sam read it!" I said and laughed nervously. Oh, c'mon, it wasn't that bad! It was better than many lies I ever came up with. Seriously.

"Your… diary?" Freddie still seemed a bit suspicious about the diary thing, but he dropped it. He seemed to have remembered that he was there to do something, and decided that whatever it was, it was more important than my embarrassing kid memories. "Uh… I just… Sam just ran out the apartment without a word, I just wanted to know, did you two have a fight or something?" He asked, and I was relieved that he gave up on the notebook subject.

"Oh, she didn't really say why she had to go home, she just said she had to" I said, and I wasn't lying, because if I was, I'd not have been able to say that so calmly. He stared at me for a short moment, maybe still a bit suspicious because of the diary thing, but luckily, he dropped it.

"Uh, alright then... I was just curious, you know?" He said "Well, I think I'd better go home, you know how my mom is"

"Yeah, okay then…well, bye"

"Bye Carls" He said, turned around, and left the studio.

**Author's Note: Reviews are extremely welcome, and make me smile ;)**


	15. Chapter 15: Panicking

**Author's Note: Hello people of the world! (Wow, it's been a long time since the last time I said that here XD)**

**Anyway, here it is! A new chapter! =D (Finally XD)**

**lol, I don't have much to say, so let's go on with what's important, shaw we? =)**

**Disclaimer: Bob has been a little bit depressed lately after he got kicked out of that cool dance club in Hawaii, because apparently chinchillas aren't allowed to dance the Macarena with only a skirt on, so he hasn't been much helpful lately... Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to wait until he gets better to put him back to work and get Dan to hand over iCarly to me =P (And for the slow ones: I don't own iCarly! XD)**

**Enjoy ;)**

* * *

Chapter 15: Panicking

**Freddie's POV**

I left Carly's apartment and walked across the hall hurriedly. After unlocking the front door, I walked inside my own apartment and closed the door silently behind me. And like always, my mother was already there, waiting for me.

"My little Freddie-baby, where were you? I was worried, you said you'd be home by ten! And it's already two past ten! I was already going to call the police to go after you! And you didn't even call me to say that you were going to stay at Carly's for a little bit longer!"

"Mom, I'm only two minutes late!" I tried to make her drop it, but she wouldn't.

"But these two minutes seemed like two years for me!"

"Mom, I'm fine alright?" I said and walked out of the room irritated, leaving my mother staring blankly at the point I had just been standing at. I walked inside my room and closed the door shut right behind me, and then dropped myself on my bed.

I seriously wasn't in the mood for talking, all I wanted was to be alone for some time and think, try to understand what had gone on tonight.

Both girls had been acting pretty weirdly lately, I couldn't deny that. And today, I'm absolutely sure that Carly was hiding something from me. Well, firstly because Carly is the worst liar in the whole world, so it wasn't difficult for me to see that she was lying, and also, she seemed pretty nervous, so all that was leading me into thinking one thing: she's hiding something from me.

But I had no idea what it was…

**Carly's POV**

I went to bed early that night, and I stuffed Sam's notebook inside one of my drawers. I didn't open it up, meaning that I didn't read anything that there's inside it. Even though I'm almost dying to do that, I really wouldn't feel comfortable about it, because I don't think people should look at other people's personal stuff, even if it's my best friend's, who shouldn't be hiding anything from me…

I stopped thinking about that, because if I went on, I knew I'd probably open that drawer right now and read the notebook, and then, after closing my eyes and waiting some minutes, I finally fell asleep.

**Sam's POV**

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was get ready for school as fast as I could and head to Carly's. I knew I'd not be able to wait until after class to get the notebook back, and I couldn't ditch today's classes because four of my teachers said that if I ditched their classes one more time they'd fail me, so… Well, you got the idea.

**Carly's POV**

Spencer was making breakfast happily when I walked down the stairs to the living room the next day after taking a shower. He was singing a song for the bacon happily as he fried it. And yes, you heard me right, he was singing a song for the bacon, not about the bacon. Anyway...

I was stuffing some things inside by school bag, including Sam's notebook. I had decided to hand it back to her at school, and say that I just found it lying on the iCarly studio floor, which wasn't really a lie…

But, well, things didn't go exactly as I planned, mainly because I'm not really the smartest person in the subject of thinking fast. I mean, when I try to do that, I always end up doing something stupid, and that's exactly what happened.

Well, first of all, I want to defend myself. When I get nervous, I usually do dumb things, okay? It's normal for everyone to do dumb stuff when they're nervous… especially when their best friend walks inside your house without even knocking and you're holding the notebook that possibly contains something that they want to keep from you, and you act completely without thinking.

So that's basically what happened… Sam walked in when I was holding her notebook, and the first thing I could think of when I realized she was looking down at her phone and was listening to music and not paying attention to me at first was… well… throwing it somewhere behind me, but I didn't dare to look at where it had landed.

Okay, I know that wasn't the best idea of something to do in that situation but… well, look at the bright side, Sam didn't realize what I had just done. She looked up from her phone two seconds after I heard the notebook landing somewhere, and I tried to stay calm and put off a normal face…

"Hey Carls" She said, putting her cell phone away into her pocket.

"Oh, hey Sam… what are you doing here? I mean… you didn't say you were coming here early for breakfast"

"I just felt like staying away from my mom today, she has a 'friend' over and I don't really want to stay there anymore" She said, adding the air quotes when she said the word 'friend'.

"Okay then, Spencer is making breakfast right now and I think-" I started, but in that moment Spencer's phone started ringing and the song Joke is On You by Nikki Watkins filled in the air. He ran towards the living room and grabbed his phone from the coffee table, where it had been since I walked down here, and then answered the call, but not before almost dropping the phone. It seemed like he had been expecting someone to call him, and I wondered who it was…

"Hey Socko!" He said enthusiastically, and after a short pause, he resumed talking. "No way! You're down in the lobby with it right now? I'm going down in the elevator! I'll be there in twenty seconds!" He said, and hung up hurriedly.

He ran to the elevator and started pressing the elevator button several times.

"Spencer, what's going on?" Sam asked curiously, staring at him amused.

"Socko is down in the lobby with something that I've been dreaming about having for a long time! I've waited for this moment since I was four years old!" He answered, and as he did, he was jumping in the same place, waiting for the elevator to arrive.

"But what is it?" I asked, kind of afraid of what it could be. Something that Spencer had been dreaming with since he was four years old? Yeah, that sounded a bit dangerous. But Spencer didn't reply it right away, because suddenly the elevator arrived, and he jumped inside it immediately and then started pressing one of the buttons several times, just like he had done before.

"I can't talk now! See ya later Carly! Sam!" He said, and the elevator doors closed shut.

"I wonder what that could be…" Sam said and threw herself on the couch. "So, is breakfast coming or not?" She asked lazily, looking up at me, and I chuckled at her.

"Spencer was cooking it, but now he's down at the lobby…" I started, but then Sam stood up from the couch slowly.

"Well, while you finish breakfast, I'll go upstairs to your room to grab a jacket for me because I'm freezing here" Sam said, and made her way up the stairs, which left me standing alone in the center of the living room.

I wondered if I should go after her, because, well, after all, I kind of knew what she was going to do upstairs, and it had nothing to do with grabbing a jacket in my room. Or at least that was what I thought so anyway. I decided to just go up the stairs after her silently, just to check if she was really going to my room, and if she didn't, I'd know that she really wasn't going upstairs to grab a jacket.

I walked up the stairs silently but quickly, and when I reached the second floor, I saw that Sam wasn't in my room. Then, I decided to go up to the iCarly studio.

**Freddie's POV**

"Hey Carls" I called as I walked inside the Shay's apartment. I got ready for school earlier today because of my mother. She was still a bit angry at me 'because of the way I treated her yesterday', and because of that, I wanted to leave the apartment as soon as possible today, so I decided to go across the hall to Carly's apartment, but there was no one in sight when I walked inside.

I figured she was still upstairs and would be down here soon, because Carly sure wouldn't like to be late for school, so I decided to wait for her. I started walking towards the kitchen because I smelled bacon coming from there and so I could check if they had already eaten breakfast or not, when something caught my eye.

On the fruit bowl, right next to the computer, there was a… notebook? What could a notebook possibly be doing there? I walked towards it and grabbed the notebook, only to find out that it was Sam's. I could tell that because it was written '_Property of Sam Puckett, read it and die'_ on the front cover.

**Author's Note: Ohhhh, cliffhanger! I'm so evil XD**

**I hope you guys liked it =)**

**Reviews are highly appreciated =) And will make Bob feel better! lol XD**

**Thanks for reading! =)**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	16. Chapter 16: Fluffy

**Author's Note: Hello people! =D You see****? It didn't take me THAT long to update this time! =D I would have posted this a week ago, but school keeps getting in the way of my writing... And Tumblr too XD**

**Anyway, in this chapter, you'll all meet a new character! =D A really important one! Okay, not THAT important, but anyway... ****I should just shut up now, shouldn't I? XD**

**Disclaimer: Instead of helping me getting Dan to hand iCarly over to me, Bob threw a party at my house, and you guys have NO idea how much damage 47 chinchillas, 32 hamsters, 26 bunnies, 14 parrots and 3 turtles can cause. So yeah, after posting this, I'll go straight back to cleaning... And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XD**

**Okay, that's enough talking! =P**

**Enjoy! =)**

* * *

Chapter 16: Fluffy

**Carly's POV**

Just like I had imagined, Sam had indeed gone up to the iCarly studio. I watched her as she looked around the studio frantically, clearly looking for something, and I knew what that was.

I took a deep breath, trying to decide whether I should go inside the studio and talk to her or not. There was this voice in the back of my head telling me to get out of there and leave things like they were, but I just couldn't chicken out of this. I had chickened out so many times in my life, so I decided that this time, with something so important like this, that involved the relationship between my two best friends, and therefore, my own relationship with them too, I couldn't just turn around and leave.

After taking another deep breath, I held out my hand and grabbed the doorknob, before pushing the door open slowly, trying to be silent.

**Sam's POV**

I looked everywhere in that studio, but I couldn't find my notebook.

I clearly remembered that I had left it under the beanbag chair, but when I looked there, I saw absolutely nothing. I decided to look around the studio, even though I kind of was expecting not to find anything. I mean, if it wasn't where I had left it, how the hell it would have ended up somewhere else?

That made me begin to think that someone had probably found it, and that was precisely what worried me the most.

I could only think of three people who could have found it. That is, if someone had actually found my notebook here, and I hadn't left somewhere else, which could end up just as badly.

And those three people were: Spencer, Carly and Freddie.

Okay, the thought of Spencer finding my notebook didn't really worry me, but the thought of either Carly or Freddie finding it truly terrified me. I mean, I had been hiding all this from them for the past whole year, and I really didn't want them to find out about it, at least not now.

Carly finding it worried me because I'm sure I know how she'd react to all this. She'd just be herself, trying to find a way to help and come up with her matchmaker plans, when I knew that it would completely be useless. I knew Freddie didn't feel the same way I felt for him, so what was the point of trying to make this work, when it was obvious it wouldn't?

And if Freddie found out about this… I have no idea what I'd do. I just couldn't take being rejected, at least not by him.

I sighed, about to give up on my search, when I heard the studio door opening slowly, and I turned around abruptly, startled, only to find Carly standing in the doorway.

"Oh... Hey Carls! What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to put off a normal face.

"Oh, nothing. I just came upstairs to my room to find you and you weren't there, so decided to come here to see if I'd find you" She explained. "So... What are you doing here?"

"I, uh... I left something here yesterday, and I came here to get it, but I can't find it anywhere" I said calmly, trying to seem like I thought this wasn't a big deal or anything like that.

"Really?" She asked, frowning a bit.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, not finding anything else to say.

"I found a notebook of yours here yesterday, is that it?" She asked suddenly, and I swear I felt my heart skip a beat.

"You did?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I left it downstairs, in the living room" She said.

"Oh... Then I guess I'll go down there to get it" I said, before starting to walk towards the door. "You still making breakfast, right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be right there, I just need to finish getting ready for school" She replied chuckling and rolling her eyes. "Hey, Sam!" She called after me just as I walked out the door.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning back around to face her.

"If you need to talk, about anything, remember that I'm here, alright?" She said, and I simply stared at her for a moment, confused by her sudden comment. Where had that come from? Had she... read my notebook?

"I know that Carls" I smiled at her, trying to ignore that last thought that had crossed my mind. "But... Where did that come from?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"Just thought I should say it. You've been pretty off these last couple of days. If there's something bothering you, I just want to let you know that you can talk to me about it" She said, and I gave her a small smile, before leaving the studio, heading downstairs to the living room hurriedly.

**Freddie's POV**

I wondered what the notebook was doing here, because even though Sam was here -I noticed her backpack lying on the couch when I walked past it-, it didn't explain why she had left it in the fruit bowl.

I held it for a moment, looking down at it curiously. I wondered if peering inside it would lead me straight to the hospital. I looked around making sure I was alone, but when I was about to open the notebook, I heard footsteps coming from the stairs. I froze for a moment, before putting the notebook right where I had found it, meaning the fruit bowl, and grabbed a half full cup of iced tea that had been placed right next to the computer screen. I then started drinking it, pretending I had been doing that all along.

That was exactly when Sam came walking down the stairs and spotted me where I was.

"Hey dork" That was her usual greeting for me. "Uh... What are you doing?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I guess I wasn't really good at being an actor, since I couldn't hide the fact that I was pretty nervous for almost being caught about to read a notebook I wasn't supposed to be reading, and if she ever found out about it, I'd probably earn a broken limb.

"What do you mean? I just got here, and I... I'm just waiting for you guys, so I could ask Carly if I could get a ride to school with her and Spencer" I said, and it wasn't exactly a lie, it was just part of the truth.

"Oh, it's not like I care anyway..." She shrugged, but then I swear she looked shocked for a moment as something caught her eye behind me, and I assumed she had spotted the notebook on the fruit bowl, but she hid her shock quickly. "Uh... Hey, you know how to cook bacon, right?" She asked randomly, sounding a bit nervous.

"Yes..." I answered hesitantly, not sure of where she wanted to get with that question, but already afraid of what it could lead to. Sam could be pretty unpredictable sometimes.

"Well, Carly is still getting ready, and you know how long she takes to do that, so why don't you get over there and cook mama some bacon?" She asked, smiling.

"Why don't you just cook it yourself?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"I love eating, not preparing things for me to eat!" She said, sounding like that was an obvious statement, and I simply rolled my eyes at her.

"Fine" I gave in and walked to the kitchen. I just couldn't make myself say no to her, no matter how much I tried. Even if I resisted at first, she'd always find a way to make me change my mind, so I saw no point on saying no to her anymore.

As I cooked the bacon, I had already forgotten about the notebook thing, until I caught Sam quickly stuffing something inside her backpack, before she walked back to the kitchen and sat down on a chair by the table, and I wondered why she hadn't picked the notebook right away when she saw it, and why she had suddenly become so nervous after spotting it on the fruit bowl.

It almost seemed like the idea of me seeing it, and possibly reading it, actually frightened her. But why? Was there anything she didn't want me to know? And if there was, what could that be? I shook my head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. I was probably just being paranoid.

Anyway, after I finished cooking the bacon, I got a plate out of the cabinet over the sink to put the bacon on, and then laid the plate down on the table right in front of Sam, who was just staring at me as she waited impatiently for her food. She looked so cute when she did that.

While she ate, I snuck a glance in the direction of the fruit bowl, and just like I had expected, the notebook was gone. That made me go back to the trail of thought I had abandoned a few minutes ago, but I soon had to drop it once again.

I guess I can't say I was surprised when Sam was done eating all the five slices of bacon I had cooked in less than a minute. I had somehow gotten used to her eating habits over the years, and it was amazing how she could eat like there was no tomorrow, especially junk food, and still have such an amazing body like hers. And I'm not complaining at all.

Back to the point, as soon as Sam stood up to put her plate in the sink, Carly came skipping downstairs.

"I'm assuming you don't need me to cook breakfast anymore" Carly commented, gesturing to the plate Sam was putting in the sink.

"Nah, the nub beat you to it, and he did it pretty well, I might add. That was good bacon." Sam said, and I found it pretty amusing how she managed to insult me and compliment me in the same sentence.

Carly simply shrugged, before moving her gaze to me. "What are you doing here so early?" She asked.

"Oh, I was wondering if I could get a ride to school with you and Spencer" I asked.

"Sure. But how come you're not going with your mom?"

"I'm kind of trying to get away from her…" I admitted, and she chuckled.

"What did she do this time?" She asked as she walked towards the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the same fruit bowl that had my complete attention a few minutes ago. I wondered where Spencer was, he was always the one who made breakfast in the morning, and it seemed like he hadn't finished it today.

"She keeps complaining about how I got home late yesterday" I said, not really wanting to mention the fact that I didn't answer my mother why I was two minutes late because I wasn't in the mood for that, due to the fact that I thought there was something going on with Carly and Sam, and I still think that.

"But you didn't go home late last night… well, at least you didn't leave late" She said, seeming a bit confused.

"I wasn't late, but according to her, I was. Two minutes" I said, rolling my eyes, and she laughed, and I heard Sam doing the same, but she didn't say anything.

"Okay, Freddie, not to sound rude or anything but your mother is completely insane" Carly said, and I laughed a little.

"You think I haven't figured that out yet?" I asked, and she laughed too. "Anyway, where's Spencer? I mean, shouldn't he be here-" My words were interrupted by the sound of the elevator stopping on that floor. And when the doors opened, Spencer walked out of it, with something I wasn't expecting to be there.

A baby giraffe.

"Hey Freddie, hey Sam" Spencer greeted us happily and then walked past me and Sam, headed to the kitchen. He stood near where Carly was standing, her mouth hanging open, clearly too shocked too say anything, exactly like me and Sam were.

Spencer seemed to be looking for something near the sink, until his eyes widened suddenly.

"Oh, man!" He exclaimed after he looked around.

"What?" Carly asked, confused.

"I didn't finish frying Fluffy's bacon! Now she has no bacon to eat for breakfast!" He said, pointing at the baby giraffe, who seemed to be way more interested on eating the back of his pants without him noticing it.

"Uh… just one question: why do you have a baby giraffe with you?" I asked, finally finding my voice to speak, and Spencer's face brightened up suddenly as he started hopping in the same place happily, making the baby giraffe have to move her head up and down repeatedly as she tried to keep eating the fabric of his pants on the area of his butt.

"Socko's cousin, Zoomer, sold her to me" He answered, smiling brightly.

"And what are you planning to do with her when she grows up?" Sam asked, clearly amused by what was going on.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he stopped jumping in the same spot, and Fluffy was finally able to keep biting his pants properly.

"Well, didn't you think about how big 'Fluffy' will get in a few months?" Carly asked, and Spencer thought for a moment.

"You know, I hadn't thought about that" He admitted, and Carly simply shook her head in disbelief.

Anyway, it took us some time to convince Spencer that Fluffy could wait a few minutes to eat breakfast, or else the three of us would be late for school, but after about ten minutes, he finally told Fluffy to sit down on the couch and watch some TV while we were gone. Yeah, please don't ask.

**Author's Note: Okay, does anyone else love Fluffy? lol XD**

**I was going to make Spencer buy a dog, but then I remembered Marvin, the ostrich from iMeet Fred, and then I was completely torn between making him buy a zebra or a giraffe, and I ended up going for the giraffe. XD**

**So, on the next chapter, we'll all get a sneak peek of what's in Sam's notebook! I wonder what that could possibly be... Oh wait, I know XD**

**I love reviews =)**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	17. Chapter 17: Secrecy

**Author's Note: Yo yo! =D**

**Okay, for the first time ever, I don't think I have anything to say here XD Well, I guess we should go on then =P**

**Note: Sarah Berkowitz is Rebecca Berkowitz's sister.**

**Disclaimer: I made my Christmas wish list today and showed the 'own iCarly' wish to Bob. He laughed at me. *sighs* I'm seriously considering to change my lawyer... =/**

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XD**

**Enjoy! =)**

* * *

Chapter 17: Secrecy

**Sam's POV**

The moment I saw my notebook in that fruit bowl, I swear my heart skipped a beat. If Freddie simply turned around, he'd probably see it there, and in that moment, I knew I had to come up with a distraction, and I needed to do it fast. Well, I guess that wasn't much difficult, considering that my stomach helped a little. I was hungry, and the first thing I came up with ended up being related to food. But I'm not complaining, I mean, I managed to both get my notebook out of sight and get me some food. Nope, not complaining at all.

I can't even begin to describe how relieved I felt when I was finally able to hold my notebook again in my hands, and to finally know that no one would find it. I have no idea what I'd do if someone ever read it and found out what I have been hiding for so long, especially Freddie.

Okay, you might be asking yourself why I don't want anyone to read what I wrote in my notebook, right? Well, the thing is that the song I wrote isn't the only thing I have written in there. No, there's more, because I made the pages from the back of that notebook into something like a diary. But it's not a diary! Diaries are for people like Carly! No offence. Oops, it's still offensive… Ugh, whatever...

As I was saying, that notebook became something like a diary to me, and if you don't already know, people usually write extremely personal stuff in diaries, and in my case, extremely personal stuff would be something that would lead whoever read it to figure out that I fell for the dork.

I usually only write in there when I have something I have to get off my chest and I can't tell anyone about, and the only way I found to make me feel better was to write down how I felt. I know, I know, that sounded extremely girly. Well, that's exactly why no one ever knew about this, and I intend on keeping things that way.

I looked up from the spot I had been sitting on in the school backyard and scanned my surroundings, checking if there was no one in sight before I opened up my backpack and got my notebook out of there. You didn't expect me to be in class, listening to Mr. Briggs for one whole hour, did you?

Anyway, I began going through the mostly blank pages of my notebook until I finally got to the page I was looking for. It was from the first time I had ever written in my notebook, a few months ago. I read the words calmly, and the memories came back rushing into my mind.

_"January 3rd, 2009_

_It's about eleven o'clock at night, and I have school tomorrow, but I just can't make myself fall asleep. People always say that diaries are pretty helpful when it comes to troubled feelings, so I thought that I should give it a shot, since nothing else seems to work._

_I never thought I'd ever say something like this, but I just can't stop thinking about Freddie, and about what happened tonight._

_I could never have imagined that I'd have my first kiss with Freddie, and I could also never have imagined that it'd make me feel like this. I just can't stop thinking about it, and I even caught myself imagining what would have happened if, right after Freddie pulled away from me, I had leaned in again and planted another kiss on his lips. I even tried to think of a situation where we could end up kissing again! What the hell is wrong with me?_

_I didn't tell Carly about it, just like I had promised to, and I hope things remain this way. It will be better like this._

_I just hope that whatever is wrong with me gets fixed soon, because I just can't take this anymore._

_Well, I guess that's all I wanted to get off my chest. And weirdly enough, I guess I feel better already. Maybe if I go to sleep now, when I wake up tomorrow, things will be back to the way they had been before this whole 'first-kiss' thing. Or at least I hope so..._

_~Sam"_

I chuckled at how oblivious to the truth I had been at that time. I just had no idea that just a few weeks later I'd end up realizing that I had falled for the nub.

I kept going through the pages, coming across some random song lyrics I usually wrote down when I was bored in class, until I finally found another entry, which was from about three weeks after the first one.

_"January 24th, 2009_

_I thought things would get back to normal after some time passed by, but they just got worse. It's already been three weeks since the night Freddie and I kissed, but I still can't get it out of my mind. But that's not all that's been bothering me._

_Since that night, I've caught myself staring at Freddie several times. And not simply staring at him, but actually noticing stuff about him that I had never paid attention to before. Like how he was suddenly starting to build up some muscles, how his voice seemed to be getting even deeper than it already was, or how cute he seemed whenever he smiled, and how his laugh always made me smile, no matter what, and many times, I felt like laughing along with him for absolutely no reason..._

_Ugh, what's wrong with me?_

_I shouldn't be thinking these things about Freddie! It's like I've suddenly started to see him under a completely new light, and I'm not pleased by that. It's just... weird to think about him this way._

_I don't know what to do anymore, because nothing I do seems to help me forget about him and that stupid kiss. I thought that maybe writing this down would help me a little, but I seriously doubt it..."_

It was so funny to read my own thoughts at that time, when I was still in denial over all this. Deep down, I already knew why I was feeling that way at the time, but I just couldn't make myself admit it, not even to myself.

I then started looking for another entry, one that I remembered very well, and I soon found it.

_"May 8th, 2009_

_I don't even know how to start this._

_I guess it happened today during the webshow, or maybe while we were eating spaghetti tacos at Carly's, but that doesn't really matter right now. What truly matters is that at some point of the day, I finally came to a realization._

_I don't really think I can call it a realization, I think I just finally accepted something that had been bothering me for over two whole months, even though I still couldn't make myself say it. And that's exactly why I'm writing this._

_I have to let it out, or else I think I might just explode. I can't make myself think of anything else, and right now, I feel like I'll go mad if I don't get this off my chest._

_And since I don't feel ready to tell anyone about this, I figured I'd write here once more. I just hope this is the last time I feel the need to do this._

_I haven't been able to fully wrap my mind around this, and I'm pretty sure it will take me a while to finally be able to do that. It's just something I had never seen coming, and if someone had ever told me this would happen someday, I'd laugh in their faces. But no matter how impossible this once seemed to me, it happened anyway._

_The truth is… I fell for Freddie._

_There, I said it. I fell for the dork, and right now, I can't get him out of my mind._

_I've never felt this way for anyone in my whole life, and the fact that I ended up feeling this way for Freddie, of all people, kind of terrifies me. And what's bothering even more is that Freddie will never feel the same way about me._

_He's been in love with Carly since the day he met her, and she's sweet and funny and pretty and has everything a boy looks for in a girl, while I'm the bully who's constantly picking on him, beating him up and calling him names. _

_How could he feel anything for me?"_

I sighed as I read the last part, closing my eyes for a moment. It had been a few weeks since I wrote that, but my fears remained the same. I still couldn't see how Freddie could ever feel anything for me, at least not romantically. I mean, how could he? With his feelings for Carly fogging up his brain, making it difficult for him to think of any other girl that wasn't her, why on Earth would he start thinking about me that way? I just couldn't see it happening.

I sighed once again as I went through some more pages until I came across another entry from not so long ago.

"_May 15th, 2009_

_I hate Sarah Berkowitz so much!_

_Well, no wonder she has the sister she has, she's so annoying and bratty. She's the kind of girl that can get any guy she wants, and she seems to really enjoy herself when she does. I didn't really care about anything she did until this morning, when she walked up to me, Carly and Freddie while we were chatting by our lockers to ask Carly about a History test they'd have in the class they shared. There was nothing wrong with that, but I soon caught up with what she was thinking._

_She didn't leave right away after she got the information she wanted about the test. It seemed like she didn't want to leave just yet, and she started to try to make a conversation with us. That kind of freaked me out, since she had always tried to ignore the three of us as much as she could, but I didn't realize what she wanted until I started to watch her closely while she went on about how she had loved our last webcast, even though it was clear that she had probably just asked someone about it and memorized as much information as she could before she came to talk to us. _

_Anyway, I soon noticed how she'd always sneak a glance towards Freddie whenever she thought neither one of us was looking, and I could tell both Carly and Freddie were completely oblivious to it. But I wasn't, and it soon started to piss me off. I was beginning to consider saying something about it, but before I could do it, Sarah finally said she needed to go. _

_I felt really relieved when she started to walk away, but then she suddenly turned around and winked at Freddie. And before any of us had time to react, she resumed walking and was soon out of sight._

_Okay, so maybe you, little diary, may think I'm overreacting a bit, right? Well, but that wasn't all. After lunch, Freddie found a note inside his locker, that simply said 'Call me', and then what I guessed was Sarah's number written on the bottom of the paper, and a red lipstick mark shaped like a kiss in the center of it. It seriously made me want to puke._

_After receiving that note, Freddie seemed to be a little bit too happy, probably because it was the first time a girl had showed any interest on him after Valerie, and he soon started to get on my nerves. So that's why after Carly said she needed to talk to Wendy about something and left us alone, I tried to talk some sense into him. I only told him the truth, that Sarah was just suddenly interested on him because he was famous on the internet. The show's viewers were already past five hundred thousand every week, and the number increased with every single webcast we did, and we also had won the iWeb Awards a few months ago. All that might have made Sarah grow some interest for him._

_But I knew her kind too well not to know that she'd just go out with him once, make out, and then dump him after she had chosen her next victim. She made me sick._

_I was relieved when Freddie told me that he knew that already, and that he hadn't even considered going out with her. I guess I can thank his crush on Carly for that, making him think he shouldn't get involved with anyone else until she gave him a chance. But I still felt bad because of that. I wanted him to turn down Sarah for me, not for Carly. But I guess that will never happen..."_

I closed my notebook and put it back inside my backpack, not planning on getting it out of there so soon. I couldn't find any safe place where I could leave it, so I decided that the best thing to do was to carry it around with me. Maybe putting it inside my locker could also work, but I didn't like the idea of not having it within my reach whenever I needed to write something down.

I guess now it's easy to see why I panicked when the possibility of either Carly or Freddie finding my notebook and reading it was real. That notebook was the only safe place I had for my feelings, and I couldn't let any one of them find out about all I had written in there.

I just hoped that nothing else that could get them so close to finding out the truth would ever happen.

**Carly's POV**

I stared at Mr. Howard as he talked about… Well, something. I wasn't paying attention to him at all. I know, I'm not like this, I usually pay attention to all classes, but today, I just couldn't do it. My mind was somewhere else. I was trying to think of a way to finally get Sam and Freddie together. Their stubbornness is annoying me, because it seems that if I don't do something, nothing will change, and they'll never admit that they feel something for each other. I haven't worked much on my Seddie plan lately, but now I was determined to get all this fixed.

But I just had no idea of how to do that… if only I could just…

_Wait a second._

And that was exactly when the perfect idea hit me. And the more I thought of it, the more I believed it could actually work. I smiled brightly as I went through the idea over and over, and then decided to stop wasting time.

I'd put the plan into action tomorrow.

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**Author's Note: Uhhhh, Carly has a plan... I wonder what it is... ;)**

**Just to clear things up, the two last entries of Sam's diary were written during this fic. (The first one of those during the first few chapters, when Sam was still in denial over her feelings.) =)**

**Well, I guess that's it for now =) It's summer time for me right now, so I'll probably update more often =)**

**Thank you so much for reading! =)**

**Reviews make me smile ;)**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	18. Chapter 18: A Helping Hand

**Author's Note: Hey guys =) It took me longer to update than I had expected, sorry about that =/**

**Disclaimer: I had such a beautiful dream last night...**

**_I'm in a beautiful green field, alone. I look around, and then I spot something coming towards me. It looks like a gigantic envelope from the distance, and as it approaches me, I'm able to read 'iCarly Rights' written on its front. I smile and start running in the envelope's direction, my arms wide open, ready to hug it. And_ _when we were barely two steps away from each other..._**

**I woke up. *Sigh***

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XD**

**Enjoy! =)**

* * *

Chapter 18: A Helping Hand

**Carly's POV**

"Spencer, please" I gave him my best puppy dog look.

"Carly, I don't know…" He still wouldn't agree to do what I wanted him to do.

Okay, let me explain the current situation to you. You all remember that this morning I finally thought of a way to get Sam and Freddie to admit that they have feelings for each other, right? Well, for my plan to work, I'll need a bit of Spencer's help, but when I told him what I had in mind, he just refused to do it! He thinks it won't work or whatever…

"C'mon Spencer, please! Why don't you want to help?" I asked.

"Because, don't you think you're kind of… well, crossing the line?" He asked, walking towards the kitchen, leaving me standing alone in the center of the living room. He probably thought I wouldn't go after him, but I did, and when he realized that, he sighed.

"Crossing what line?" I asked, faking innocence, and he seemed a bit annoyed with that.

"Carly, don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about. Don't you think that we should let Sam and Freddie solve this by themselves?" He insisted on what he had been telling me for the past whole hour, and I gave him the same reply I had given him about thirty times.

"Spencer, they're so stubborn that they'll never solve anything if someone doesn't intervene, and maybe, if we wait too much, it could be too late!" I insisted. "Please" I added, giving him another puppy dog look, and he sighed, finally giving in.

"Okay, okay, you win. But if anything goes wrong, it will be entirely your fault" He said, pointing a finger at me, but I was so sure that my plan would work out just fine that I knew that last part would never matter. I was so happy that he had finally decided to help me that I was jumping up and down, clapping my hands excitedly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I exclaimed, and then hugged him tightly. "Now, here's what you're going to do." I started explaining my plan when I pulled away from him. "Tomorrow, before you pick me up at school, I want you to…"

_The next day…_

**Freddie's POV**

I put my English book inside my bag when the final bell of the day rang, meaning that school was over. I then left the classroom where I had been watching Mrs. Briggs's class and walked over to where my locker was. The day had gone off pretty well, except that it seemed like Sam had been avoiding me. Actually, not only me, but Carly too, and that intrigued me a lot, making me wonder if there was something wrong. But if there really was, I couldn't tell what it was, and...

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone buzzing once on my back jeans pocket, meaning that I had a new text message. I didn't check it right away, because I hadn't finished putting the text books I'd need today inside my bag, and when I was done, I closed my locker shut and zipped my backpack.

Just then I got my PearPhone out of my back pocket and read what was written on its screen. Like I already knew it would, it said that I had a new text message, but just then I saw it was from Carly. I unlocked the screen by entering my password and read the text.

**I had to leave early today, sorry! Meet me in our studio right after school and I'll explain everything!**

I texted her back saying that I'd be there soon. Okay then…

After a few minutes talking to one of my AV Club friends, I walked out of the school doors. Today I'd have to go home walking, not that I minded. My mom had sent me a message during lunch saying that she wouldn't be able to go pick me up, and she told me to take a cab home, which I decided not to, because I didn't live that far away from school, so what was the problem with walking? She'd kill me if she knew about this, but well, she probably never would.

Anyway, I then started walking, headed to Bushwell Plaza.

**Spencer's POV**

Okay, I think I did a good job with what Carly wanted me to do. I think Mrs. Benson actually believed me! Well, at least I hope she did, or else Carly might sneak into my room in the middle of the night and push a pillow over my face until I stop kicking… Yeah, I know, that's some pretty dark stuff, but that's how she threatens me sometimes.

Anyway, here's what she asked me to do- wait, correction, what she made me do, because I didn't really want to have any part in this silly plan she had in mind.

Okay, back to the point. She told me to call Mrs. Benson before lunch and pretend to be a guy from that crazy club she's part of, the one called… Wait, I forgot what it's called… I guess it's something like Psycho Parenting… No, I think it's not like that… Ugh, whatever, remembering the name for about fifteen minutes until I had finished talking to her was already difficult, so how do you expect me to remember the name now?

Well, where was I? No, I wasn't telling you about how cute it was yesterday when Fluffy said daddy… Don't look at me like that, she said daddy! I swear! But Carly doesn't believe me… Oh, well… Oh yeah! I remembered! I was telling you about my conversation with Mrs. Benson on the phone earlier!

Okay, well, like I've already said before, I pretended to be a guy from that whatever-it's-called-psycho-parenting-thingy, right? So, I told her that 'we' were going to have a meeting at the exact time she'd have to go pick Freddie up at school, and if she was only a second late, she would be kicked out of the thingy. She started complaining, saying that she had to 'pick up her son at school at that time', and I told her that there was no problem with letting the kid take a cab home, and you want to hear the weird part of that? She agreed with me. Ha ha!

Then, she agreed to come to the meeting and that she wouldn't go pick up Freddie. But of course, I knew that she'd probably think that I could possibly pick Freddie up at school when I went to pick up Carly. So, you're asking yourself what I did, right? Well, I actually came up with that part of the plan myself!

You see, just like I had thought she would, Mrs. Benson showed up at our doorstep right after I had gotten off the phone with her, and she asked me if I could pick Freddie up from school because she couldn't, and she thought it was too dangerous to let him walk home by himself or take a cab.

So I did the best thing I could think of: I told her that I couldn't, because Carly had a doctor's appointment in a little over an hour, and that I was going to pick her up early from school before we'd go to the doctor and we'd be back way after school was over. I also told her that there was no problem with Freddie taking a cab home, and after trying to convince her for what seemed like an eternity, even though I was sure couldn't have been longer than five minutes, she finally gave in and agreed with me.

I then left and went to the junkyard to grab some stuff for a sculpture I'm working on, and after a few hours, Carly texted me. I then picked her up at school a little earlier than usual and we came back home. And by the time we got here, Mrs. Benson was already gone.

You can clap now.

Are you done? Good. So, since Mrs. Benson couldn't go pick up Freddie at school and I wouldn't do it, that meant he'd have to go home either by taking a cab, getting a ride with someone else or simply walking. And in all those cases, he'd have to go walk through the lobby. And that's where the second part of what I have to do starts, so I should go to the lobby in just a few… Wait! Is it this late already? Oh, no, I should already be in the lobby by now! Carly is going to kill me if the plan doesn't work because of me! I need to go, tiny people inside my head! Wish me luck!

**Author's Note: And Carly's plan is still a secret. *Evil laugh***

**You'll understand what it is when the right time comes ;P**

**Thank you so much for reading! =)**

**So, do you know what's awesome? Yep, reviews. I love them so very much ;)**

**And if I don't post anything else this week...**

** Happy New Year! =D**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	19. Chapter 19: Weird Behavior

**Author's Note: Okay, it's been over two weeks since my last update... I know, I suck at updating XD Sorry =/**

**Disclaimer: If I had a magic meatball like Spencer's and asked it if I'll ever own iCarly, do you know what the answer would be? That's right, 'No, that will never happen, now go feed your chinchillas!'. The meatball says it all. **

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! =P**

**Enjoy! =)**

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Chapter 19: Weird Behavior

**Freddie's POV**

After only fifteen minutes, I was able to see Bushwell Plaza right ahead. See mom? Going home walking isn't that dangerous. Anyway, as soon as I pushed the doors that led to the lobby open, I heard yelling coming from inside the building.

I immediately recognized two voices: Lewbert and Spencer's. And as soon as I realized that, I knew that whatever was going on just wouldn't end up well. So, I walked towards the two bickering men.

"I'm telling you, it's not working!" Spencer yelled at the man and his wart.

"How can it not be working? I checked it yesterday!" Lewbert yelled in response.

Okay, I had no idea what they were talking about, but that didn't really matter, did it? What mattered was that they needed to stop arguing, so I decided to intervene, since I knew no one else would.

"Hey, hey! What's going on here?" I asked, and stood right between the two of them, making them keep a certain distance from each other.

"That idiot keeps insisting that one of the stupid elevators is not working!" Lewbert answered kindly. Notice my sarcasm on the word 'kindly'.

"But it isn't! If you'd only agree to go there and take a look at it, then you'd see it for yourself and stop yelling at me!" Spencer replied just as kindly, and I rolled my eyes at both of them.

"Okay, Lewbert, why don't you just go there and check the elevator? If it's really not working, then it's your responsibility to call someone to come and fix it" I said as calmly as I could, and Lewbert let out one of his usual screams as he walked towards the hallway that led to the elevators.

"THAT'S WHY I HATE PEOPLE!" We heard him yelling right before he was out of sight. That man seriously has issues.

Anyway, before anything else could be said, we heard a loud bang coming from where Lewbert had just disappeared, but, reading my confused expression, Spencer spoke up before I could move to go see what had happened.

"He must have tripped or something, I'm sure he's fine." He said, and I shrugged. Okay then.

"So, only one elevator is not working, right?" I asked, because now that the problem was solved, or at least it seemed like it, I needed to go up to the eighth floor and see whatever Carly wants to explain, like she said on that text. I wondered what it was…

"Yeah, the one that opens directly inside the apartments is still working" He said, and I nodded, before taking one step towards the hallway, but then, Spencer stopped me by stepping aside, so he was now standing right in front of me.

I took another step, this time to the other side, but Spencer did the same, so he was still standing right in front of me, blocking my way.

"Uh… What are you doing?" I asked him, half amused and half annoyed.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, laughing nervously, before glancing briefly at the door, like he was expecting someone to walk in the lobby at any second, but no one did. Ignoring that, I stepped aside one more time, and the exact same thing that had happened the two previous times I did that happened again.

"About that! What are you doing?" I asked again, and he seemed like he was panicking.

"I… uh… eh…" He stuttered nervously, but then the lobby door was pushed open and someone walked inside.

Spencer moved his gaze in that direction to see who it was, and he seemed really disappointed with what he saw. Curiously, I decided to see who it was, so I turned my head in that direction and spotted an old lady who lived in the building walking inside.

The old lady was walking to the elevators when Spencer called out after her, and she stopped abruptly.

"Hey lady! You can't go in there!" He said, and the old lady stared at him, confused.

"Why not?" She asked.

"None of the elevators are working, you'll have to use the stairs!" He said, and I stared at him confusedly. What the hell was he doing? Okay, there was something really suspicious going on, and I needed to find out what it was.

I was about to protest, saying that the elevator that led into the apartments was still working, but, knowing what I was about to do, Spencer shot me a death glare, which was a really rare thing for him to do, and, during my moment of hesitation, he hurried the lady towards the stairs.

As soon as she was out of earshot, I walked over to him.

"Dude! Why did you do that?" I asked, and I knew he was about to stutter out a reply that wouldn't make sense, but he didn't have the chance to do it, because in that moment, the door was pushed open one more time, and this time, his face lit up when he saw who it was, and he seemed really relieved. I then turned around to see who it was, and became even more confused than I already was.

Sam.

**Sam's POV**

I entered Bushwell Plaza about half an hour after school was over. Carly had texted me saying that she had left school early, and that I needed to meet her in the iCarly studio right after school because she wanted to explain something, but I had absolutely no idea what it was, or what it could be.

As soon as I was inside, I spotted Freddie and Spencer standing in front of the stairs, but Lewbert was nowhere in sight. The two seemed to have been discussing something, but they shut up right when I walked in, and Spencer seemed like he was really relieved the moment I walked in.

_Okay, what's going on here?_ I asked myself as I walked towards the two, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Uh… What's going on here?" I asked my question out loud once I had reached them.

"Well, Spencer is-" Freddie started, but Spencer cut him off, and he was talking way louder than usual. He seemed to be pretty nervous… Yeah, there was definitely something weird going on.

"Nothing! Nothing is going on! Why would something be going on? There's nothing going on!" Spencer replied nervously, and it made me even more suspicious.

"But then why-" I was about to protest, but Spencer cut me off too.

"Hey! Look at the time!" He exclaimed loudly, looking down at the watch that was attached to his wrist. "Carly must be wondering where you two are!"

Freddie and I simply stared at him with a confused expression on both our faces. Spencer looked a bit impatient now… _What's up with him today? _I wondered.

"C'mon, why don't you two just take the elevator that is working right now to get to the eighth floor before Carly comes down here looking for you two, huh?" He asked, and I decided to do what he said. I mean, he was acting so weird that it was kind of pissing me off, and I kind of wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, or else I might end up punching him in the face or something. What? I'm not responsible for the things I do when I'm angry.

So, I simply shook my head and started walking to the hallway that led to the elevators. Freddie, after a brief moment of hesitation, followed me. The main elevator seemed to not be working, but that wasn't a problem, because we could just take the elevator that led straight into the apartments.

Well, we called that elevator, and after a few seconds, it arrived on our floor, empty. I then walked inside, followed by Freddie, but Spencer didn't join us. Instead, he just stood there in the hallway, staring at the floor like he was trying to avoid making eye contact with us.

"Uh… aren't you coming?" I asked him, and he shook his head, looking up abruptly.

"Oh, no, not yet, I, uh… I've got something to do down here, but I'll be up there soon" He said.

"Please tell me that that thing has nothing to do with irritating Lewbert even more than you already have today" Freddie said, and even though I had no idea what he was talking about, I didn't ask why he said that.

"Oh, no! Of course not… well, see ya!" He said, and then pressed the button that had an eight written on it for us.

The elevator doors then began to close, and in the moment the doors were only a few inches apart, I swear I saw a triumphant smile cross Spencer's features and him start doing a little happy dance, but I think I might have just imagined it.

What I didn't know back then was that I wouldn't be getting to the eighth floor so soon.

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**Author's Note: So, guess what? Carly's plan will finally be fully explained in the next chapter! =D**

**But you might be able to guess what it is after reading this chapter. Little hint: I had this idea while watching iLike Jake ;)**

**Okay, I'd better shut up now before I give too much away XD**

**Thanks for reading! =)**

**The 'Save Bob from being overweight' foundation would be really grateful if you left me a review by clicking on the pretty little button below. Together, we can keep Bob thin and happy.**

**(Seriously, Bob is a fat chinchilla XD)**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	20. Chapter 20: The Plan

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for not updating in a while, but school has been keeping me pretty busy lately. =/**

**But before I go on, I'd like to say something. I got a review for last chapter saying that I should 'get to the point faster', and I'd like to apologize to anyone who feels that way. But honestly, it's not about length. It's just that my way of writing kind of changed after what I call my 'fanfiction pause', during which I stayed over one year off this site. After that 'pause', I've come to prefer to write everything with much more detail than before, and now that I've finally finished my English course, I have a lot more vocabulary to work with than I had back in 2009. If you compare the chapters I posted before 2010 and the new ones, I'm sure you'll see the difference. And with that, the chapters grew a lot longer, and I'd rather keep the chapters of this story with a maximum of 3,000 words, so that's why you might feel like the story is kinda 'dragging on', and the fact that I usually can't update regularly doesn't help at all. But I'll try not to let the story 'drag on' too much.**

**Disclaimer: I have a little poem for you guys.**

_**Roses are flowers,**_

_**Violets are too.**_

_**Do I own iCarly? **_

_**No.**_

**Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 20: The Plan

**Spencer's POV**

As soon as the elevator doors were closed, I started doing my happy dance, until I remembered, two seconds later, that my part of the plan wasn't over yet. I quickly grabbed my phone and texted Carly, who was upstairs in our apartment, telling her that Sam and Freddie had just gotten in the elevator and were on their way up. And before you ask, no, I didn't write all that in the message in that moment, because if I had done that, it would take too long for Carly to get my text, and then it would be too late and the plan wouldn't work. So I had the message ready on my phone, I just had to press send. See? I'm an intelligent person.

When I read the message on the screen saying that my text had been delivered, I started dancing happily all around the lobby once again. I hadn't screwed up the plan, just like I knew Carly thought I would! And I didn't even set anything on fire in the process!

But my happy moment didn't last long, because I suddenly spotted Gibby walking out of the janitor's closet right in the end of the hallway. It seems like his part of the plan went well.

"Hey Spence!" Gibby greeted me as he walked in my direction and then stopped when he was standing right in front of me.

"Hey Gibs, how's Lewbert?" I asked curiously.

"Locked up in the janitor's closet without his set of keys, just like you and Carly said he should be." He said, sounding proud of himself, and then held Lewbert's set of keys up so I could see it, before throwing it behind Lewbert's desk. I know it can sound kind of… bad, but the plan wouldn't work if Lewbert was free in the lobby. He'd sure screw up everything, so we had to make sure he wouldn't intervene.

"So, how did you manage to get his keys and lock him up in there?" I asked, still curious. When Carly and I asked him how he would do that, he didn't answer.

"Uh, Gibbaayy!" He said, pointing to himself, and I simply frowned at him. But I didn't have time to ask for further information, because he quickly went on. "I gotta go, tell me if the plan worked when it's over." He said, smiling, and then left the lobby.

After a second of standing there alone and confused, simply staring at the door Gibby had just disappeared through, I decided to go up to the eighth floor and check how the plan was going. Just then I realized I'd have to take the stairs.

Oh, well.

Sighing, I made my way over to the staircase that was only a few steps away from me.

**Carly's POV**

I was waiting impatiently for Spencer and Gibby to finish their part of the plan. Yes, I had made Gibby make part of it, but he was a lot easier to convince than Spencer. Well, actually, I didn't really have to insist or anything, I just asked if he wanted to help me and Spencer with a plan to try to get Sam and Freddie together and he simply replied me with an 'Okay', and when I told him what I wanted him to do, he just said that it sounded cool, and then walked away.

Anyway, the plan was really simple, and I was hoping that Spencer wouldn't mess it up, because, well, many times when I asked him to do something, he'd either forget to do it or set something on fire while doing it. And trust me, those things can really make things not work out like you would had expected them to.

And that was what made me a bit nervous, but not only that. I was also kind afraid that the plan itself wouldn't work out. Maybe the plan would only make things worse, and that was definitely not what I wanted to happen.

I shook my head, still nervous, as I went through the whole plan inside my mind for the hundredth time as I waited for my cue to act.

Okay, first of all, I'm not exactly expecting Sam and Freddie to actually get together with the first part of my plan. For now, I'll be happy if it at least makes them talk and brings them at least a tiny bit closer. I'm pretty sure Sam hasn't realized that I noticed it, but I know she's been avoiding Freddie lately. Since that whole notebook incident, she's been quieter than usual, and whenever she spots Freddie approaching us, she comes up with some lame excuse and walks away. It's pretty annoying, really.

I've even questioned Sam about it, but she denied it, and when she realized I wouldn't give up on it, she said she needed to talk to Rip-Off Rodney about a prank they were planning together and walked away. And since then, she started avoiding me as well. This had to stop, so I decided to do something about it. And that was when I came up with this plan. They wouldn't have where to run, and they would _have_ to talk to each other and figure things out. And if I had luck, the second phase of the plan would manage to break the walls they had been building around themselves during all these years and make them tell each other how they truly felt.

The first part of the plan seemed to have worked out pretty well. I was afraid that maybe Spencer would say something he shouldn't by mistake, or that maybe Mrs. Benson didn't believed him when he told her he was from one of those parenting things she was part of, but much to my relief, she bought the whole story, and agreed to show up at the 'meeting'. And that meant that Freddie would have to walk through the lobby when he got to Bushwell Plaza.

The next part of the plan was to get both Sam and Freddie to head straight to our studio right after school, but that wasn't a problem, since I could simply send them a text, just like I always did when I wanted them both here.

And then came another part for which I needed Spencer's help: I needed him to get Lewbert out of the lobby while the plan was happening, or else he'd just make everything go wrong, but Spencer's part was the easiest one in this part, because who would have the hardest part was Gibby, since he was the one responsible for locking Lewbert inside the janitor's closet and getting his set of keys so he wouldn't be able to unlock the door and get out of there. So Spencer had to basically just get Lewbert to go near the closet and wait for Gibby to do his part.

Well, that last part is where my nervousness starts, because I have no idea if it worked or not. And the only thing I can do is wait here to see what happens! I'm freaking out right now because of all this suspense! _Okay, just breathe Carly, just breathe… _I kept telling myself that over and over in an effort to calm myself down, but it didn't work so well.

Anyway, the next part of the plan is up to Spencer, because he has to make sure Sam and Freddie would get inside the elevator that leads straight into the apartments together, because if only one of them was inside the elevator the moment I did the thing I'm waiting to do right now, it wouldn't make any sense at all.

So now I was basically waiting for Spencer to text me saying that I could do my part, so I could finally-

My thoughts were interrupted when my phone buzzed in my hand, and I shakily read the message on the screen of my PearPhone.

**Spencer:**

**Sam and Freddie are on their way up!**

I then stood up from the wooden staircase I had been sitting on and turned to my right, where the power control panel was waiting open. I stood out one of my shaky hands and grabbed the small red lever before pushing it down, shutting down the power of the elevator, and making it stop probably halfway up to the eighth floor.

**Normal POV**

Carly heard the faint sound of the elevator stopping a few floors below hers, her heart beating way faster than normally as she stared at the lever she had just moved. She then closed her eyes and sighed.

_It's done._ She thought to herself and walked away from where she had been standing for several seconds to prevent herself from going back on what she had struggled the whole morning to accomplish.

She remembered the time she and Sam had done the same thing to Jake Kendrall, because they didn't want him to appear on iCarly that night, since the boy definitely couldn't sing. But their idea didn't work out very well at the time since Jake had found a small door on the top of the elevator and had somehow managed to make his way up to the iCarly studio.

But now, no one could do that anymore, because Jake had actually broken the door, and Lewbert, angry because he was the one responsible for getting it fixed, decided to shut that door closed forever, so now no one else could do what Jake had done.

Carly then, after going back to reality, looked down at her PearPhone once again, before typing in her passcode to unlock the screen.

She then went to the utilities menu on the phone and to the clock, and after thinking about it for a brief moment, she decided to program the timer to ring in one hour, so then she could start the second part of her plan. It didn't seem like too much time, but also not too little, so Carly decided that was the right amount of time to let them stuck in there by themselves before she put the rest of her plan in motion.

She lied down on the couch and sighed at the quietness of the place, closing her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. Everything was pretty peaceful in the apartment until…

The front door burst open, which caused Carly's eyes to shoot open instantly. She quickly sat up and looked around, trying to find the source of all that noise, and spotted Spencer completely out of breath, supporting himself on the doorframe.

"Uh… Are you okay, Spencer?" Carly asked as she stood up from the couch and stared at her older brother, worry clear on her features.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine… I just… had to climb all… all the way up here… using the stairs… because all the… elevators are not working…" Spencer explained between heavy breaths, and Carly's worry was suddenly replaced by amusement.

"Uh, Spencer?" Carly called for his attention, chuckling a bit, and he looked up at her, confused, wondering why she was thinking the current situation was so funny.

"What?" He asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"You do know that you didn't have to climb up the stairs to come up here, right?" She asked, and as Spencer simply kept staring at her with a confused expression on his face, she went on "Only this elevator" She pointed to the closed doors of the now not working elevator "is not available for use, but the others are still working. You'd just have to turn the power of those elevators back on" She said, but Spencer didn't respond at first.

"You know, you could have told me that before I had to almost die to get up here" He complained, and Carly rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, c'mon, it's not that tiring to get up here by walking up the stairs. I do that all the time" Carly said, shrugging, but he didn't seem to agree with her.

"Well, that's because you're a lot younger than me!" He said stubbornly, and his sister couldn't stop hersef from laughing out loud.

"Spencer, you're only twenty-seven years old, you're not that old!" Carly said, but then regretted the last part immediately.

"Oh, so you think I'm old?" He said, trying to sound hurt and sad.

"No, I didn't say that! But I do think you should start working out!" Carly said.

"I do not!" He said, sounding like he was a five-year-old, and Carly couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

Carly was about to argue back, but in that moment, Fluffy walked in the living room coming from Spencer's room, and Spencer saw her sudden appearance as an excuse to drop the subject about his lack of muscles.

"Hey Fluffy! Do you want to go for a walk in the park? Does baby Fluffy want to go for a walk in the park? Of course you do" Spencer said like he was talking to a baby once he was standing right next to the baby giraffe and started petting its head like it was a dog.

He then left with Fluffy wearing a harness, leaving Carly standing there alone. She then lied down on the couch once again and closed her eyes, just now realizing how tired she was. She had stayed up all night, worried about her plan.

And after a few seconds, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: I'll try to update soon, but if I don't, please don't hate me! It's all my school's fault! XD**

**Thank you so much for reading! =)**

**And don't forget to review! Bob was really happy to hear that you guys wanted to help him lose weight, so let's keep those reviews coming and make him even more happy! ;D**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	21. Chapter 21: Stuck

**Author's Note: Okay, first of all, thank you all so much for the amazing feedback! =D**

**So here it is, chapter 21! =)**

**Disclaimer: Do you know that amazing feeling you get when you finally get something you've been wishing for for the past three years, like owning iCarly? No? Me neither.**

**Enjoy! ;)**

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Chapter 21: Stuck

Inside the elevator, everything was silent. Even though Sam and Freddie had finally somewhat gotten away from Spencer, they didn't comment anything about his strange behavior when the two metal doors were closed. They simply shared a confused look before looking away and letting the silence take over completely.

They stayed like that for a long moment, Sam with her arms crossed over her chest, staring ahead at the doors with her back resting against the elevator wall right behind her, while Freddie had his hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyes focused on the floor right in front of his feet.

And they'd have remained in those very positions for the rest of the elevator ride to the eighth floor if something hadn't happened along the way.

There was a loud noise, and the elevator stopped abruptly, causing both of them to lose their balance for a moment. The main lights went off suddenly, leaving them with only the emergency light trying to fight its way through the darkness that had suddenly threatened to take over the place, but that didn't make the situation much better, since the elevator was still extremely poorly lit.

It took them both a few seconds to finally react to what had just happened.

"What happened?" Sam asked, finally looking up at Freddie after having avoided doing so for the past few minutes.

"I don't know, the power must be out or something…" Freddie trailed off, but as he thought about it for a brief moment, he remembered something important. "Oh, man" He said out loud without even thinking about it, which, of course, made Sam curious.

"What?" She asked, staring at him expectantly.

"Lewbert was going to check if there was something wrong with the hallway elevator, but I think he might have mistakenly shut down the power of all of them instead of only one" Freddie said, sounding like he was freaking out. He didn't want Sam to know that he was suddenly panicking on the inside, but he was failing miserably at hiding it.

"Oh, man! Why does Lewbert have to be so stupid?" Sam exclaimed angrily, and due to years of experience, Freddie knew that was the kind of situation in which Sam usually felt the urge to take her anger out on something or someone, and as he was the only person around, he was obviously going to be the target.

Suddenly fearful for his own safety because of that last thought, Freddie backed away from her slowly, an action that didn't pass unnoticed by the blonde girl.

"Don't worry, Diphead, I'm not killing you right now" She said, rolling her eyes at him like she thought the assumption he had made was pretty stupid.

"Good" He breathed out, clearly relieved, causing Sam to chuckle lightly and shake her head at him.

"Don't be such a nub" She warned teasingly, causing him to chuckled as well. "Do you think it will take Lewbert long to realize he shut down the power of the wrong elevator so he can turn the power back on?" Sam asked after a brief moment of silence.

"I don't know. Well, we don't even know if that's really why the elevator stopped" Freddie answer, shrugging lightl, and then one idea suddenly popped into his head. "Wait a sec, I know how we can find out if it was really Lewbert" He said, and then got his phone out of his pocket before starting to dial a number into it.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, trying to read the number he was dialing.

"Calling Carly. Maybe she knows what happened, and even if she doesn't, she might be able to find out for us. And also, she's probably wondering where we are, since we were supposed to meet her in the iCarly studio about ten minutes ago" He explained, and Sam wondered why she hadn't thought of that before.

"Put it on speaker!" She said when he pressed call, and he quickly did what he was told.

And after three long rings, Carly finally picked up the call.

"_Hello?"_ They both heard Carly's sleepy voice coming from the other side of the line.

"Carly?" Freddie spoke into the phone, and there was a brief silent moment before Carly finally spoke again.

"_Freddie?"_ Her voice sounded pretty weird and hesitant, but they both shrugged it off.

"Yeah, it's me" He replied, and Sam then decided to speak up.

"And me" She added quickly, before Carly could speak again.

"_Uh… What's wrong? I thought you guys were coming over right after school" _She said nervously.

"Yeah, we were, but on our way up the elevator simply stopped, like the power was down or something" Sam explained.

"_Really?"_ Carly didn't sound much surprised.

"Yeah, and Lewbert was going to check one of the elevators, the one in the hallway, so it might be his fault, but we don't know for sure" Sam replied, ignoring her friend's weird behavior.

"_Oh, really? Well, Spencer had gone down to the lobby to tell him that the hallway elevator wasn't working, so that must be it" _They could hear Carly's footsteps in the background, meaning that she was pacing around as she spoke.

"But we're not in the hallway elevator, we're in the one that opens inside the apartments, so that means Lewbert might have shut down the power of the wrong elevator" Freddie explained.

_"Well, that does sound like something Lewbert would do..." _Carly trailed off.

"Yeah, it does, but that's not the point. Would you go down to the lobby to see if it's really his fault that the power is out, and tell him to turn it back on, like, right now?" Sam asked.

_"Yeah, sure, I'll... I'll do that" _Once again, Carly's voice sounded pretty weird, but Sam and Freddie had no time to think about that, because Carly suddenly spoke again. _"Oh, look, Spencer is here! So, is Lewbert already checking the elevator? Sam and Freddie said he might have shut down the power of the wrong elevator, and I was going downstairs to talk to him right now, but now that you're here, what's going on down there?" _There was something in Carly's voice that made Freddie frown. He had a feeling there was something weird going on, but he couldn't tell exactly what it was.

_"Oh, yeah, uh... Lewbert actually shut down the power of all the elevators, and he's already checking the one that's not working, so he can't turn the power back on, and that might take a while..." _They both heard Spencer's answer, which could only mean that Carly had also put the call on speaker.

"So you're basically saying that you have no idea when we'll be able to get out of here?" Sam asked, clearly annoyed.

_"Yeah, but... Well, Lewbert is just checking the elevator. That can't take __too__ long" _Carly tried to make her friends feel better, but that didn't work quite well.

"Well, uh... Thanks, anyway. Keep us informed, alright?" Freddie said, and after hearing Carly's quick 'Okay. Bye' in response, he hung up.

After that, Sam turned her attention to the two big metal doors of the elevator, trying to figure out a way to get out of that place as soon as possible. She hated to be trapped in small spaces, since it reminded her of what juvie was like way too much.

Freddie knew the look on her face. He had already seen that exact same look several times before, usually when Sam was trying to come up with some way - that was, most of the time, reckless or illegal, usually both - to solve a bad situation, and that fact made Freddie start worrying about both his and her safety.

"Uh… Sam?" He spoke up a bit hesitantly.

"What?" She asked, but she sounded like she wasn't paying attention to him at all, which was probably exactly what was happening. She was clearly lost in thought, which, in Freddie's mind, was definitely not a good sign.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked after a brief pause, and she finally torn her eyes away from the two metal doors, focusing them on Freddie's face.

"Trying to figure out a way to get us out of here, what else?" She said it, shrugging her shoulders. "And you know, that's something you should be doing as well" She added after a few seconds, and then took two steps forward, so now she could touch the two closed doors, which was exactly what she did next. She kept trying to find a way to separate them forcefully, which would allow the two of them to get out of the elevator, but she couldn't find a way to do that just using her hands.

"Sam, you know there's no way you're going to be able to open those doors, right?" Freddie said in a warning tone, but Sam ignored him as she kept trying to separate the two doors, but deep, deep inside, she knew he was right. But, of course, being as stubborn as she was, she ignored that thought and kept trying to get the doors open.

Freddie sighed when he realized that she wouldn't give up that easily. She was Sam after all, so he shouldn't have expected any less. When she got an idea inside that crazy mind of hers, it was practically impossible to make her change her mind.

But Freddie wouldn't give up either. He knew that whatever she was planning to do would be both pointless, since there was no way she'd get those doors open, and dangerous. He was about to tell her that, only with different words, when she suddenly snapped her fingers, as if she had just had some kind of brilliant idea, before turning around and walking towards her backpack, which she had left in one of the corners of the elevator when they both realized they were stuck.

Freddie watched curiously as she knelt down next to her backpack and started searching through it for something.

"Uh… What are you doing now?" He asked, afraid of what the answer would be. Sam was known for carrying some weird things with her, which usually could cause serious body harm to someone.

"Just looking for something that might get us out of here" She replied simply, not even bothering to look up at him or to stop her search for a moment to answer him.

"But what is it?" He insisted, wanting her to tell him what she had in mind, but she remained in silence for a long moment.

"Found it!" She exclaimed happily all of a sudden, and then stood back up, finally allowing Freddie to have a clear view of what she was holding in her hands. And when he realized what it was, he immediately decided to intervene.

"Sam, don't even think about it!" Freddie exclaimed as he grabbed her wrist in an effort to stop her from approaching the doors holding a small hatchet.

"What's your problem, Benson?" She shot angrily at him, but surprisingly she didn't try to break her arm free from his grasp, and even more surprisingly, he could hear a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Sam, you're not hitting those doors with that hatchet" He said firmly, and she rolled her eyes at his worry.

"You want me to do it with the hammer?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Freddie sighed. "No, I meant that you're not hitting those doors with any kind of weird tools you carry around in your bag"

"But what about the-" She started, but Freddie simply gave her an exasperated look, which made her sigh in defeat. "I'm just trying to get us out of here!" She shot bitterly, taking a threatening step closer to him.

It was only in that moment that they both realized how the distance that there had once been between the two of them had suddenly become really small, but they didn't move. Instead, they got lost into each other's eyes for a long silent moment.

Sam could feel Freddie's hot breath tickling her face lightly, and she knew hers was doing the same to him. For a moment, she wondered what his reaction would be if she simply leaned in and kissed him right then and there, and if he would, by any chances, kiss her back…

Sam suddenly snapped back to reality and quickly pulled her arm free from Freddie's grasp, and he didn't even make any effort to stop her.

"Okay, okay, you win" She gave in, not feeling like arguing with him at all after the moment they had just shared, and after putting the small hatchet back inside her backpack, she sat down in the corner next to her bag, resting her back against the cold metal wall and sighing silently as she closed her eyes, resting the back of her head against the wall as well.

Freddie's eyes remained glued to her for a long moment. He couldn't help but stare at her for a few seconds, just like he had caught himself doing several times over the past few months. After shaking his head vigorously as he tried to clear up his thoughts after what had just happened, but with no success, he did the same as her, but he sat down in the opposite corner, allowing her to have some space, and giving himself some as well.

After a few seconds, he dared to sneak another glance in her direction, thankful for the fact that since she had her eyes closed, that action remained unnoticed by the blonde girl. He guessed she was somehow trying to fall asleep, which didn't surprise him even the slightest bit, and he couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked when she was sleeping, or, in that case, trying to fall asleep.

But in that moment, he had absolutely no idea how that whole elevator situation would change his current relationship with her forever.

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**Author's Note: This chapter was pretty fun to write XP**

**So, what will happen next? Will Carly succeed? And hadn't Spencer gone for a walk in the park with Fluffy? What is he doing home then? So many questions to be answered... Hehe ;D**

**Thank you so much for reading! =)**

**And don't forget to review! Bob is still a fat chinchilla ;D**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	22. Chapter 22: Awkwardness & Fat Cakes

**Author's Note: Yep, I know, you all hate me for not updating for so long XP Well, I hope this pretty long chapter makes up for the long wait =P**

**Disclaimer: Do you guys really think that if I owned iCarly, I'd make it less than 10 seasons long? Well, trust me, I wouldn't.**

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XP**

**Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 22: Awkwardness & Fat Cakes

**Normal POV**

Sam tried to keep her thoughts away from the brunette boy sitting just a few inches away from her, since the elevator wasn't _that_ big, but she didn't succeed at all. For a single moment, only a few seconds, she was sure that she'd screw up everything she had been building up for almost a whole year, and she couldn't forgive herself for that.

She had been working hard to hide her feelings for Freddie from absolutely everyone, and she almost revealed them to Freddie himself, who was precisely the person who couldn't know about them the most. She couldn't let him know about what she felt for him, because she knew what would happen, and she knew that it was completely inevitable.

_Freddie loves Carly, _she kept telling herself, trying to convince the stubborn part of her brain that kept building up false hope inside her that maybe someday Freddie might feel something for her too, but she just couldn't entirely convince herself that if he ever found about her secret, she'd be rejected.

But there was something that still got her thinking. When she almost kissed him, it seemed like he'd let her. The way he was looking at her and the fact that he didn't move away awkwardly the moment they both realized how close they were; it all made her think that if she kissed him right then and there, he'd kiss her back.

Sam shook her head lightly and opened her eyes briefly just to check if Freddie hadn't seen the movement. Noticing that he wasn't looking at her, she closed her eyes once again. There was no way he'd kiss her again, no way. Sam was sure that the kiss they had shared several months ago didn't mean anything for him, since it had only happened to get that whole first kiss thing over with.

But… What if she was wrong? Could he… Could he feel the same way about her?

_No, Sam, he doesn't! Now stop daydreaming, this is not a fairytale!_ Sam told herself angrily, but she still couldn't get Freddie out of her mind, and the fact that he was only a few inches away from her wasn't helping at all.

Freddie wasn't in a much different situation than Sam's. He was also trying to understand what had happened a few minutes earlier, and just like Sam, he couldn't find any coherent explanation for it. He could have sworn that Sam was about to kiss him, but when she moved away from him, it almost seemed like he had just imagined it.

But that wasn't the only thing in his mind; he was also trying to understand something that had been bugging him for the last three days.

Sam had been acting pretty weird lately. She had been avoiding both him and Carly for some unknown reason, and he could tell that she was hiding something from them, but he didn't know what. He had done his best to try to figure it out, but he failed miserably every single time he tried.

Freddie decided to drop those thoughts for a moment, because he knew that the more he thought about them, the less sense they made. He then focused his mind on trying to find a way to get out of that elevator, because he knew Sam was freaking out on the inside, even though she didn't let it show much, and he didn't like her feeling like that.

He had to admit that their current situation wasn't so bad in his eyes. Of course, the part of being stuck inside an elevator that had no power and not knowing how long he'd be in there seemed pretty bad, but considering that he wasn't alone in the elevator and that Sam was the one that was there with him made it all not seem that bad after all.

Some people might think that Sam was the worst company in the world, but Freddie disagreed with that completely, even though when he first met her, he had a similar opinion to that one. Of course, Sam could be aggressive, abusive and rude when she wanted to, but Freddie was one of the few people who knew that under all that, there was another side of her. A softer, calmer, and – yeah, he dared to say it – vulnerable side of her, even though he didn't have the chance to see it very often.

And in fact, he really enjoyed her company, even with all the beatings and insults. And talking about those, he had recently noticed that they weren't happening very often anymore, maybe because he and Sam had grown closer during the years, and now they could even be called close friends.

But even with all the bickering, he knew he wouldn't have it any other way. He loved her just the way she was.

They were both silent for a long time, each one of them secretly hoping that the other would break the silence, but neither one of them wanted to do it themselves. It wasn't because the situation was awkward, because honestly, it wasn't. They both wanted to talk to each other, they just didn't want to be the one to speak up first.

The situation remained like that for a few minutes, which seemed to drag on for hours, until the silence was finally broken; not by one of them, but by Sam's stomach growling loudly, which caused Sam to mentally slap herself for not eating something before she left Ridgeway.

"You hungry?" Freddie asked, even though the answer was pretty obvious.

"Well, yeah. I haven't eaten anything for over two hours now." Sam complained, trying to remember if she didn't have anything she could eat in her bag, but she instantly remembered that she had already eaten all the fat cakes that had been in there. She had made a mental note to renew her fat cake stock that morning, but she ended up forgetting to do it, and now she had nothing to eat.

_Dammit! How could I have forgotten to put-_ She was about to keep cursing herself for a few minutes, but she stopped abruptly when she realized that Freddie had gotten up from the floor and had kneeled down right next to his backpack, before starting to look for something in there.

"What are you…?" She didn't finish that, because instead, she decided to just wait and see what Freddie was about to do.

A few seconds later, Freddie finally spoke again.

"You had left this over at my apartment, so I decided to leave it here, you know, just in case there was ever some kind of emergency." He explained as he got something out of his bag, causing Sam's eyes to bright up when she realized what he was holding out for her to grab, which was exactly what she did without even thinking twice.

Sam quickly tore the plastic that wrapped the fat cake up and was the only thing that separated her from the delicious snack she was holding firmly in her hands. Freddie watched as she attacked the poor pink thing hungrily and without a single drop of hesitation, smiling to himself as he did so.

After a few bites, though, Sam paused for a moment and looked up at him.

"You don't want some?" She offered, her mouth full, and Freddie shook his head, surprised that she had actually been willing to share her food with him. That had never happened before.

"No thanks. I'm good." He said, and she shrugged, before going back to devouring the fat cake, which didn't take over two minutes. Sam then turned to Freddie once again, after wiping her mouth him the back of her hand.

"Uh… Thank you." She said, a bit awkwardly, and Freddie couldn't help but smile at her.

"No prob." He replied, making her smile in response.

Their eyes were glued to each other's for a long moment, neither one of them wanting to move their gave away, until Sam finally made herself look down as she rested her back against the elevator wall once again, and Freddie decided to do the same, but now, he was sitting right next to her.

Now that her stomach was partially full, Sam suddenly started to feel sleepy. Her eyelids were growing heavier and heavier at each moment, until she couldn't bear to keep her eyes open anymore, and she soon found herself letting her head fall to the side and rest on something soft. She didn't even have time to realize what it was though, since she soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Freddie unexpectedly felt something resting on his right shoulder and quickly looked down to his side. He was surprised when he realized that Sam had fallen asleep and had let her head rest on his shoulder, but the shock quickly wore off, and he smiled as he moved a lock of her golden hair that had been covering her face to carefully tuck it behind her ear.

He then leaned in and kissed the top of her head softly, being careful not to wake her up. She stirred a bit in her sleep, but much to his relief, she remained asleep.

Growing a bit more secure, he moved his left hand up to her hair and started playing with it affectively, glad that Sam wasn't a light sleeper, or else he was sure he'd be dead by now.

Freddie sighed soundlessly and contently. If he could stop time, he'd sure do it in that moment, but as he couldn't, he simply enjoyed it while it lasted. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, because just a few minutes later, his phone rang.

Freddie cursed himself for not having put it on vibrate as he watched Sam's eyes pop open. She looked around confusedly before moving away from him quickly as soon as she realized the position she and Freddie had been in. Freddie avoided making eye contact with her as he reached for his backpack and got his phone out. He took a quick look at the screen, reading the caller ID.

Carly.

"Hey Carly." He spoke into the phone, but this time, Sam didn't seem really interested in hearing the conversation. He put it on speaker anyway though.

_"Hey Freddie. Uh... how are things going over there?" _Carly asked hesitantly, but she sounded pretty curious about it. Weird.

"Uh..." Freddie glanced over at Sam really briefly, meeting her eyes for less than a second, and then went on, trying not to stutter as he spoke. "Everything is fine here... uh... so, what's up? Is there anything new?"

_"Yeah, I... I went downstairs to talk to Lewbert myself, and there's already a dude there working on the elevator that's not working, but he said that he can't turn the power back on until he's done."_ Carly explained, sounding a bit nervous.

"And how long is that going to take?"

"_Well, he said it would take two more hours for the elevator to be fixed..."_

"Two hours?" Freddie asked just to make sure that he had heard it right.

"_Yeah," _Carly replied, and Freddie sighed quietly to himself.

"Well, thanks anyway for keeping us informed, Carls." Freddie thanked her.

_"No prob,"_ She replied. _"I'll call you if there's anything new."_

"Okay, thanks again." He said, before hanging up.

Sam had been trying to avoid making eye contact with Freddie while he talked on the phone with Carly, staring down at her hands, which here folded over her lap, hoping that he hadn't noticed how deep she was blushing, but now that he was done talking to their best friend, she knew she couldn't avoid it any longer.

"Well, it seems we're gonna have to wait in here for two more hours." Freddie said, and Sam finally made herself look up at him.

"Yeah, seems like it." She said simply, pretending to be calm and that nothing had happened.

The moment could seriously not have been more awkward, since they were both trying not to bring up what had happened before Freddie's phone rang, but at the same time it was the only thing in their minds, and they could tell that the other was also thinking about it.

Sam felt the need to at least try to break the tension in the room, so she started to search her brain for something she could say, but she met with no success. She thought about it for a few minutes, but then gave up, thinking that maybe a conversation would only make the situation even more awkward than it already was.

Even though Sam didn't know it, Freddie was trying to do the exact same thing she was doing - trying to think of something he could say to ease the tension between them, but just like Sam, he found none. But once again, there was something else in his mind.

The way Carly spoke on the phone both times they had talked intrigued him deeply, and he couldn't hel but wonder if she was hiding something from them.

Carly had never been a good liar. It was unbelievably easy to tell when she was lying because she'd get pretty nervous and anxious as she spoke, and that was exactly how her voice sounded over the phone. But could that really mean something…?

That was when it hit him. It actually meant _everything._

Freddie cursed himself in his mind for not having realized something so obvious before, even if it was right in front of his face. Why Carly wanted them to meet her in the studio right after school; why Spencer had been acting so weird in the lobby; why Spencer had only let him get inside the elevator after Sam had arrived; why Carly had sounded so nervous while talking to him on the phone. All the pieces seemed to be getting in place right in front of his eyes, just like some kind of huge puzzle, and when it was done, everything suddenly made sense.

The elevator didn't stop because Lewbert shut the power of all the elevators down, since there was actually no reason for him to do that. Freddie knew that the each elevator had a separate lever, so there was no way Lewbert would shut the power of all elevators down if he only needed to do it for one.

That all could only mean one thing: the power of the elevator they were in wasn't shut down by mistake; it was just too much of a coincidence. And all that could only have been caused by one person: Carly.

It made perfect sense. Carly was known for always making up crazy plans to get what she wanted, and that description fit perfectly on the situation he and Sam currently found themselves in.

Carly knew how Freddie felt about Sam, and she probably, in her little fairytale-like mind, thought that Sam could possibly feel the same way about him, so she came up with a plan in an effort to get them together.

So all this 'getting stuck inside the elevator together' thing was only part of one of Carly's plans; a plan that, Freddie thought, wouldn't work. He was sure that Sam didn't feel the same way about him, there was just no way she did, so how could that plan work? That plan couldn't make Sam magically fall in love with him, so what was the point of all that?

Freddie sent a quick glance toward Sam, who fortunately wasn't looking in his direction when he did it, before moving his gaze to the elevator floor right in front of him, before begining to try to think of a way to entertain himself for the next two hours.

* * *

Sam had finally managed to calm herself down, but the problem now was another one.

She was bored.

She hated to be bored. She got bored pretty often; usually at school or whenever Carly traveled, but this was different. She couldn't simply start writing songs on her notebook like she usually did at school or start singing randomly to herself like she did when she was alone at home.

Nope, that didn't seem like a good idea.

Sam swore mentally for forgetting to charge her PearPod the night before and started playing with a lock of her hair as she tried to entertain herself, but that got boring after less than a minute. She started to search her brain for something else to do, but she found nothing. She groaned lowly in frustration, but it ended up coming out loud enough for Freddie to hear it and look over at her confusedly.

Realizing that, Sam quickly explained herself. "I'm bored."

"Well, we're on the same boat on that one." He replied with a hint of a smile, and then became silent again, which wasn't really the answer Sam wanted to hear. She was secretly hoping that he'd at least start a conversation after she said that, but instead, he chose not to, which annoyed her deeply.

"I'm still bored." She said, a bit louder this time, and Freddie chuckled at her.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, sounding amused.

"I don't know. Something _not_ boring?" She said it like it was absolutely obvious.

"And do you have any suggestion on what that could be? Because, well, there's nothing to do in here anyway." He said, and Sam rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't deny the truth in his words. Sighing, she closed her eyes and rested the back of her head against the wall right behind her.

After that little exchange, they both went back to staring at a random spot on one of the elevator walls, trying to make time go by faster, but both of them were failing miserably at it.

* * *

Carly took a deep breath.

One hour had passed a lot faster than she had thought it would. When the alarm she had set to ring went off, she felt as if barely a few minutes had gone by, but she soon managed to make herself get up from the couch and grab the disposable phone Spencer had gotten from Socko that morning, ready to put the second part of her plan in motion.

She hadn't been supposed to call Freddie again just a few minutes ago, but she just couldn't control herself. In the original plan, she had indeed been supposed to call him twice, but as Spencer had walked inside the living room because he had forgotten Fluffy's favorite frisbee in the exact moment he did, she ended up telling Sam and Freddie everything they were supposed to know in the first phone call she made. But as she needed to know how things were going, or at least if they were both still alive in that elevator, and there was no other way to do it, she ended up having to come up with something else to tell them so she could make a second phone call.

But even though she knew that they were both okay, she had no idea if something had happened between her two best friends inside that elevator, and that made her grow extremely anxious.

Trying to ignore that line of thought, she quickly opened up the text message she had written several hours earlier on the disposable phone.

She couldn't have sent Sam the text from the phone of someone whose number was in Sam's contact list, so that eliminated herself, Spencer and Gibby, and she honestly couldn't think of anyone else who could help her with that. But when she told Spencer about that little complication in her plan, he told her he'd handle it. And two hours later, Spencer showed up with the phone, saying that he had gotten it from Socko, who apparently owed him a favor.

After hesitating for a brief moment, she finally made herself press send. She then sighed, sitting back down on the couch, suddenly feeling even more anxious than before, because she knew that now everything depended completely on Sam and Freddie; her part of the plan was done.

The only thing she could do now was wait.

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, that was like, the longest chapter of this story XP I hope you liked it! =)**

**Thank you so much for reading! =)**

**And guess what? Bob is fatter than ever! (Seriously, he looks like a bunny now XD) So let's all keep reviewing, or else he might become the world's fattest chinchilla in just a few weeks! ;P**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	23. Chapter 23: Curiosity

**Author's Note: Yeah, I know, I suck at updating XD**

**Disclaimer: If I owned iCarly, I wouldn't be worried about whether or not Seddie will be together in the finale, since I'd know for sure that they will, and they wouldn't have broken up in iLove You to begin with. But guess what? ****I don't own it. *sighs sadly***

**Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 23: Curiosity

Sam was getting hungry again, since it had probably been over an hour since she had eaten that fat cake, and adding that to her boredom, it all got her in a really bad mood and pretty unstable. And that helped the following events to happen, being those bad or good.

She could notice that Freddie was a bit tense, and he had been since the moment Carly had told them that it would take about two hours to fix the elevator. Well, at least that was what Carly had said, but Sam didn't buy it. She could easily tell that by the way Carly talked over the phone that she was lying about something; that she was hiding something from the two of them, but Sam couldn't figure out what it was.

What could Carly be hiding from them? Could it have anything to do with what she wanted to tell them after school?

Sam tried hard to find an answer to those questions, but she seriously couldn't think of any, so she soon dropped that line of thought and went back to what she had been thinking about before she started wondering what was up with Carly.

She knew her thoughts were wandering to dangerous grounds, but she really didn't care at the moment.

She couldn't figure out if Freddie was nervous about being trapped in that elevator with her because he was afraid that she'd hurt him, or if the reason was something else. Of course, he had his reasons to fear being hurt by her, but it wasn't like she hurt him _all_ the time. It seriously hurt her that he constantly thought of her as someone who would hurt him at any chance she got. Why couldn't he just see her by who she really was, just like he did with Carly? It wasn't fair that only because Carly was a goody two-shoes and all girly that he'd notice her. Why did he have to love Carly, anyway?

Oh, yeah, because Carly was the kind of girl that all boys liked. They didn't like girls who'd throw a punch if necessary; they wanted delicate girls who wore high heels and makeup every day. But Sam wasn't that kind of girl, and she was suffering the consequences of that with Freddie.

She wouldn't change who she was for a guy; she had already learned her lesson about that with Pete. If a boy wanted to date her, he'd have to accept her by who she was.

But then, how could she and Freddie ever have a chance if he wouldn't even notice her in the first place? He was just too busy running after Carly like a lost puppy to realize that Sam was the one who would always be there for him, no matter what.

Why did he have to love Carly? Actually, why did _she_ have to fall for him? If that hadn't happened, she wouldn't be going through all this. But she had fallen for him, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

A sudden movement made Sam look up abruptly, only to find Freddie looking down at his watch. She rolled her eyes, since that was pretty much a confirmation of what she was just thinking about. He might be dying inside to go back to his precious Carly and be free from this torture.

Sam got even angrier because of that last thought.

"You know, time won't go by faster if you just keep looking down at your watch," Sam said before she could stop herself, the words coming out a bit more harshly than she had meant them to, but she honestly didn't care at the moment.

"I know, I'm just trying to..." Freddie shook his head lightly. "Just forget it," he finally said, clearly changing his mind about whether he'd tell her something or not, which made Sam suddenly grow curious about it.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's just that..." Freddie trailed off, and Sam knew that he'd try to make up something to say, so she gave him a look, telling him that he'd better tell her what was in his mind. At the sight, he gave in with a sigh. "Okay, okay. I was just..." Freddie seemed unsure of how to continue that. "Well, I was just trying to understand why the elevator really stopped. I mean, it wasn't Lewbert who shut down the power, because that wouldn't make sense," he said, and Sam was able to hear a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Sam nodded lightly at his words. "Yeah, actually, I've been thinking about the same thing," Sam admitted. "And also, don't you think that Carly seemed to be hiding something from us? On the phone, I mean."

"Yeah, actually, I do," Freddie replied. "But I just can't think of what it might be..." Freddie let his voice hang in the air for a moment. Of course he knew what Carly was hiding from them, or at least he thought he knew, but he couldn't share it with Sam, so he had to make sure that Sam thought he was just as clueless about all that as she was.

"Exactly." Sam paused for a moment. "Do you think she's the one who shut the power down to make the elevator stop? You know, just like Carly and I did that time with Jake?"

Freddie knew their conversation was heading in a dangerous direction, and he knew that he had to avoid that, but he had to think of a way to do that without making Sam grow suspicious about it. "Yeah, that could be it, but there's only one thing that doesn't fit..." He made a short pause. "Why would she do that?" Freddie asked, hoping that after that she'd drop the subject.

"I don't know," Sam said, shrugging. She didn't speak again for several seconds, and for a moment, Freddie thought that she had given up on the subject.

He was wrong.

"She couldn't be doing this as some kind of prank, right?" Sam asked suddenly. "I mean, Carly wouldn't do that. I think that girl has never pulled a single prank in her whole life, so why do it now, and completely out of nowhere?" Sam sounded pretty frustrated as she went on with a list of reasons why Carly could have done it, but none of them really made sense or was close enough to the truth. "Ugh, okay, I give up. Carly is just out of her mind, that might be it," she said finally, clearly frustrated.

"Or maybe it wasn't her," Freddie said, trying to sound believable.

"But then, who could it be?" Sam asked, sighing. "I think we're just gonna know the real reason when we're out of here, because this is leading us nowhere."

"Probably," Freddie agreed, feeling relieved that she had finally given up on trying to figure things out. "I guess all we can do for now is wait."

"Yeah, you're right... unfortunately," Sam said, before sighing quietly to herself. Maybe staying stuck inside an elevator with Freddie wouldn't be so bad if an awkward silence didn't take over every two minutes.

After a few seconds, however, the silence was broken when Sam's phone suddenly beeped, signaling that she had received a new text message. She took the phone in her hands expecting a text from Carly, but she frowned when she saw that the message was from an unknown number. She opened the message and read it, and as soon as her gaze fell upon the sender's name, her eyes widened in shock.

**Finally made myself ask Carly for your number. Want to go out someday?**

**- Shane**

Sam was frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do.

She had had a major crush on Shane once, but that had been over one year ago, and now, she honestly wouldn't care if Carly went out with him like she would have back then. But she couldn't help but feel happy after reading Shane's text, since no guy apart from Jonah had ever asked her out, even though she'd rather he had asked her in person.

"What is it?" Freddie's voice suddenly broke Sam out of her thoughts, and she quickly looked up, only to find him watching her curiously. Just then she realized that she had been smiling lightly to herself as she stared down at the screen of her phone.

"Nothing," she replied quickly, but an idea suddenly popped into her head. She had always wondered if Freddie would even care if she went out with someone, and even if she was sure that he probably wouldn't, she couldn't help but want to check his reaction to Shane's text. "Shane just asked me out on a date."

Sam had expected Freddie to act completely indifferently to that, but surprisingly, he seemed oddly interested and maybe even slightly surprised.

"He... He did?" Freddie asked, his tone earning some kind of weird tone she had never heard him use before.

"Yeah," she replied, shrugging lightly. "Why do you seem so surprised?"

"I'm not surprised, I'm just..." He seemed unable to find the right way to end that.

"Shocked that Shane would ever ask me out?" Sam asked. "Well, I don't know if you haven't realized it yet, but I'm a girl, Freddie. I don't see why a guy asking me out should be such a surprise." Sam sounded somewhat hurt, even though she tried hard to hide it.

"I didn't mean it like that, Sam!" Freddie said quickly. "It's no surprise that someone would ask you out; I mean, you're beautiful and-" Freddie stopped abruptly, his eyes widening as the realization of what he had just said sunk in.

Sam was completely shocked to hear that. She had honestly always thought that Freddie had never - and never would - see her as actually a girl the same way he saw Carly. So it was no surprise that after hearing him calling her beautiful, she felt completely speechless, unable to find a way to respond to it. No one had ever told her that, and the fact that Freddie was the one who had said it made her heart nearly explode with joy.

"You... You really mean that?" Sam asked, her voice low as she struggled against her sudden inability to speak.

Freddie nodded lightly. "Of course."

Sam hesitated for a few seconds before answering, not able to find the right thing to say. "Thank you," she said finally, earning a small smile from Freddie in response and smiling lightly in return. "No one has ever said anything like that to me, you know?"

"Well, I don't see why not." He shrugged lightly, the smile never leaving his face, and all the happiness inside Sam made her unable to stop smiling as well.

Another beep could be heard, this time coming from Freddie's bag that lay with Sam's right beside her. Sam somehow managed to look away from Freddie, suddenly finding her nails oddly entertaining, but she couldn't help but watch from the corner of her eye as Freddie stood up and took a step toward her, before kneeling down right in front of their bags. He then started searching through his own bag, looking for his cell phone.

"I thought you reserved that kind of thing for Carly." The words left Sam's mouth before she had the chance to stop them, and she regretted them as soon as they were out. She kept her gaze down, still not able to meet his eyes.

Freddie stopped his search for a moment, trying to decide how he should respond to that without giving too much away. He hesitated for a few seconds, but ended up telling her the truth.

"It's not like that anymore." He made a short pause, studying her reaction. She looked up and frowned at him, a curious expression on her face, which was a clear sign for him to go on. "I just… I just don't feel the same way for Carly as I did before," he admitted the truth he had never dared to speak out loud before, but now, actually hearing those words made it all seem even more real.

Sam was surprised to hear that to say the least; not simply surprised, but utterly shocked. Freddie loving Carly had been a solid fact in her life for over three years now, so knowing that it wasn't true anymore made her freeze and her mind start running like crazy. "Wait, so you're saying that you don't love her anymore?" Sam found herself asking, hoping with everything she had that his answer would be positive.

"I don't think I ever did," he told her, shrugging lightly. "I had a crush on her for a little over a year, nothing more than that."

Silence suddenly fell upon the two of them as Sam looked down once again. She was shocked to hear that, but she also felt somewhat relieved, as if the idea that Freddie might not have any more feelings for Carly meant that she might actually have a chance to be with him someday.

But she knew that she couldn't allow herself to feel hopeful, or else she'd for sure only end up having her feelings crushed. The fact that Freddie didn't have feelings for Carly anymore didn't mean that he'd ever feel anything for Sam, of all people.

The sound of Freddie chuckling lowly suddenly brought Sam back to reality, and she looked up abruptly, only to find him shaking his head lightly as he stared down at the screen of his PearPhone. Just then she remembered why he had been searching through his bag in the first place - he had been looking for his phone so he could check the text he had received just a few moments ago.

"What is it?" Sam asked before she could even stop herself.

Freddie quickly looked up. "My mom asking if I got home safely after school," he replied, and Sam couldn't help but chuckle lightly at his mother's paranoia. He quickly typed in a reply and sent it before putting his phone back inside his bag.

Sam did her best to resist the urge to ask him what he had told his mother. She briefly wondered if he had mentioned the fact that he was currently stuck inside an elevator with her, but she soon realized that he most likely hadn't. There was no point in doing that, since it would only make things worse. His mother would just keep sending him a million texts and calling him every two minutes to ask him if he was still alive and uninjured.

Sam wasn't sure if the subject of Freddie's now absent crush on Carly was over, but she found herself wanting to go on with that conversation, just so he'd tell her more about it, but she didn't know if she should.

Luckily, she didn't have to say anything.

"Carly is like a sister to me," Freddie said after he had zipped his bag shut again. "I just can't see us as a couple anymore."

"I never did," Sam admitted, shrugging lightly.

"Why not?" Freddie asked, sounding curious, and Sam suddenly regretted saying that, but there was way to take it back.

"I just…" She didn't know how to explain herself without giving away something she shouldn't. "I just don't think you two are right for each other," she finally said, hoping that he wouldn't ask for a more complete explanation.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you're right," he said, before falling silent once more. Everything was silent for a few awkward seconds, until Freddie finally broke the silence once again. "Aren't you gonna answer Shane?" he asked, his tone unusually curious. Even though Sam didn't know about it, he was hoping with everything he had that she'd turn Shane's invitation down, but he somehow knew that she wouldn't. He remembered just how crazy she and Carly had been about Shane over a year ago, which could only lead him to think that she would still be willing to go out with him on a date.

"Uh, yeah, I… I forgot," Sam said, looking back down at her phone. With the conversation she and Freddie had been having, she had honestly forgotten about the text she had received several minutes ago.

Sam typed in a quick reply and hit send.

* * *

**Author's Note: Don't you guys just love cliffhangers? lol XD**

**I'll try not to take too long to update again XP**

**Thank you so much for reading! =)**

**I love reviews, and so does Bob ;) I think he's even lost some weight in the past few weeks ;D (He's finally realized that the wheel in his cage is not only for him to sleep on XD)**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	24. Chapter 24: Whirlwind

**Disclaimer: Bob is currently grounded for misbehaving, so I haven't been able to make any progress in my 'trying to own iCarly' cause. *sighs sadly***

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XP**

**Enjoy! ;D**

* * *

Chapter 24: Whirlwind

The disposable phone Carly had used to text Sam earlier buzzed inside her pocket, signaling that she had received a new text message. Her heart started beating faster in expectation, since she knew very well just who the text was from.

She had been waiting for that text for the past fifteen whole minutes, and she hadn't been able to make herself calm down since the moment she had hit send. She knew the success of her plan partially depended on that text, so it was no wonder why she felt so nervous about it.

But she also felt extremely conflicted, which was why she ended up hesitating so much to read the text. One part of her really wanted to just read the message so she'd finally know whether her plan had any chance of working or not, since the suspense was so intense it might end up giving her a heart attack, but there was another part of her that was afraid of what she might read in the text.

She had already thought about all the consequences of her plan going wrong, but she had been so sure that everything would work out just perfectly that she hadn't been really worried about it. But now that her plan was coming close to its end, she felt nervous beyond belief. She couldn't even imagine just how mad Freddie would be at her if her plan didn't work the way it had been supposed to, since she had pretty much put everything he had spent the last few months trying to hide at risk, and he might never forgive her for that. And also, she had no idea what she'd do if Sam accepted 'Shane's' invitation to go out with him, and if Sam ever found out that Carly had been the one that had sent the text, she'd be so pissed that she might even call the quits on being her best friend.

It was just then that Carly actually realized the seriousness of the situation, since she could pretty much lose both her best friends over this, but now what was done was done, and there was nothing she could do to take it all back.

That thought didn't make her feel even the slightest bit better.

With shaky hands, Carly managed to grab the disposable phone from her pocket and open up the text she had been expecting to receive for several minutes now, and after taking a deep breath in a failing effort to try to calm herself down, she let her eyes rest on the screen of the mobile in her hands.

**I'd love to, but I'm kinda seeing someone else. Thanks for the invite****,**** though.**

**~Sam**

Carly found herself unable to tell whether that reply was bad or good.

She felt relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with the possible consequences of Sam agreeing to go on a date that wasn't happening, but she also felt worried that Sam's words might be true.

But… Sam would have told her if she was seeing someone, right? _Of course she would, _Carly told herself. Sam wouldn't keep something like that from her, she was sure of it. But then, that could only mean that, for some reason, Sam just didn't want to go out with Shane and had come up with that excuse.

That thought made her a little calmer, but she was still worried. She had no idea how things were going inside that elevator, and she'd only know it when it was time to release Sam and Freddie from there.

Carly sighed, flopping down onto the couch. She set the alarm on her phone to go off in an hour, and then tried to occupy her mind with anything that didn't have anything to do with elevators, but she couldn't keep her mind from wandering back toward the subject of her two best friends a lot more than she'd be happy with.

* * *

Sam tried not to put too much thought into what she had just found, but that turned out to be pretty much impossible. How could she simply ignore the fact that the boy she had fallen in love with hadn't been in love with her best friend all along, like she had always believed him to be?

But even if what Freddie had told her was true, that didn't mean that she suddenly had a chance to be with him, and the fact that Freddie didn't actually love Carly also didn't mean that he didn't have eyes for some other girl.

That thought had such a strong effect on her that it even surprised her. Whenever Freddie hit on Carly, it was obvious that she felt jealous, but she had never worried too much about it. She knew for a fact that Carly didn't feel anything for Freddie, and that made her feel relatively safe, since she knew she wouldn't need to compete for Freddie's heart against her own best friend.

But even the single thought of another girl entering the picture, and that she had no idea who this girl was and if she even felt anything for Freddie, truly freaked her out. She felt a strong sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, one that she could only identify as jealousy, and she suddenly felt the urge to ask Freddie if he had his eyes laid on any other girl, but she knew she couldn't do that.

"So..." Freddie's voice suddenly snapped Sam out of her troubled thoughts, and she quickly looked up at him. "What did you tell Shane?"

His question surprised Sam to say the least, and she couldn't help but raise a questioning eyebrow at him. "Why do you even care?" She couldn't stop the words before they left her mouth.

"Oh, no reason... Just trying to keep a conversation going on, I guess," Freddie said, shrugging lightly and looking slightly uncomfortable.

Sam frowned at that, but she didn't say anything. And that was when she had a pretty risky idea, but desperate times asked for desperate measures.

"If you really want to know, I told him that I'd love to go out with him," she said. She wasn't really sure why she said it, though. She guessed she was just curious to see Freddie's reaction to it, even though she knew she shouldn't expect any kind of jealousy from his part.

His reaction caught her off guard, though. Freddie looked extremely surprised for a moment, and for barely a second, an emotion Sam wasn't able to identify crossed his features, but it vanished so quickly she wasn't even sure if she had really seen it. "Oh, uh..." He cleared his throat awkwardly, seeming to be at a loss for words.

"Are you okay?" Sam couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Yeah, I... I just thought, you know..." He made a short pause, as if he was still not sure of what he should say. "I just thought that after that little competition you and Carly had over him a year ago, neither one of you would date him again so soon," he finally said, and Sam was silent for a moment, unsure of how to respond to that.

Sam had to admit that Freddie indeed had a point, but she couldn't let it show that she actually had no intention of going out with Shane. "That was one year ago. I'm sure Carly won't mind."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Freddie replied after a moment, but he didn't seem really happy about admitting it. Silence took over the two of them for a moment, until Freddie spoke up once again. "So you still like Shane, huh?" There was something weird about his tone, but Sam couldn't put a finger on exactly what.

The question caught Sam completely off guard, and she hesitated briefly before responding. She couldn't understand why Freddie suddenly seemed so interested in her supposedly accepting to go out with Shane. He couldn't possibly be… jealous, could he? _Of course he's not jealous, _Sam thought quickly. There was no way Freddie would ever be jealous because of her going out with someone.

"Uh…" She tried to organize her thoughts for a moment. "Yeah… kinda," she finally said. "I mean, he's a really sweet guy," she added, shrugging lightly.

"So you're going out with him just because he's sweet?" Freddie asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Okay, what's with the sudden questioning? What, now I need to have your approval on which guys I can date?" The words were out there before Sam even realized them, and Freddie suddenly tensed up, which didn't go unnoticed by her.

"No, I just…" Freddie seemed to be at a loss for words once again as he ran his hand over the back of his neck. "Just forget it," he said, suddenly looking down, and Sam simply frowned at him.

The way Freddie was acting really intrigued Sam, and she wasn't willing to just let it go. "If a girl ever asked you out – and I'm not saying one ever will - and you thought that she was really sweet, wouldn't you go out with her, even if you didn't exactly like her?"

Freddie eyed her for a moment, as if processing what he had just heard, before he finally responded. "Probably not," he said finally, and when he noticed Sam's lifted eyebrow, he quickly explained himself. "Well, I just wouldn't go out with someone I don't like _that _way, you know?"

Sam thought for a second, before shrugging lightly. "Yeah, that makes sense, I guess," she replied. "But you'd still go out with Carly if she asked you out, I'm sure." Sam couldn't have stopped the words from escaping her mouth even if she had tried to. She had no idea why she was acting like that – completely on instinct and not even trying to stop herself from asking the kind of questions she had never thought she'd ever have the courage to ask Freddie.

Freddie blinked a few times, before looking down abruptly, as if he couldn't bear to look at Sam in the eye or something. "I've already told you, Sam. I don't like Carly that way anymore," he said finally.

"So you seriously wouldn't go out with her?" Sam asked just to make sure Freddie actually meant what he said.

"No, probably not," Freddie replied. "I've already told you; Carly is like a sister to me. It would be too weird for me to date her."

Sam paused for a moment, wondering if she should really say something, and her jealousy and curiosity ended up getting the best of her. "Oh, so that's it? Or is there a new little crush on the picture?" Sam said it in the best joking tone she could muster at the moment.

Freddie opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it shut. For a moment, he actually considered telling her that there wasn't, but for some reason, another part of his brain didn't want to lie to her about it and was insanely curious to see her reaction to it, since Sam seemed pretty curious about the subject of his now absent crush on Carly, and his brief moment of hesitation ended up giving away the truth.

Sam raised an eyebrow at his reaction. "What, cat got your tongue?" she asked, trying not to read too much into his hesitation, but the truth was clear as crystal right in front of her eyes - Freddie indeed had a crush on someone else now.

She had a heavy feeling inside her chest, but she did her best not to show how broken she suddenly felt inside. Images of Freddie holding hands and kissing some random, faceless girl flooded her mind, and the feeling in her chest only got stronger.

"I, uh..." Freddie still hesitated for another moment, but he soon realized that there was no point in trying to hide it now; his hesitation had already said enough. "Okay, fine, yes, I do have a crush on someone else," he admitted. He preferred to say it was a crush, since he didn't think it was a good idea to tell Sam that he was in love with someone who happened to be her, even if she wouldn't know about the last part.

Sam was silent for a moment, as if processing what she had just heard, when she was actually trying to build up the courage to keep the conversation going. "So... Do I know her?" she asked, doing her best not to sound too interested in it.

Freddie eyed her for a moment, wondering why she was suddenly so interested in whom he had feelings for, and he could only blame the boredom for it. "No, you don't know her," he said, deciding not to risk telling her that she knew who he was talking about, since she might try to guess who it was.

"So she's not from Ridgeway, then?" Sam asked, still trying to sound slightly uninterested.

"No," Freddie replied.

Sam grew silent once again. She tried to think of where Freddie could know this girl from, and several places crossed her mind. Freddie's mother made him attend to several mother-son classes with her, and there sure were a few girls about their age there, so that already gave her several possible places where Freddie might have met this mysterious girl. The others were just regular places he went to, like tech-stores and the shopping mall.

None of that got her any closer to figuring out who this girl was, which only frustrated her deeply.

"Poor girl," Sam said, suddenly breaking the silence. "I assume you keep running after her like you used to do with Carly," she added, hoping that it would help her get more information about the girl out of Freddie without making him grow suspicious because of her curiosity.

Freddie couldn't help but chuckle lightly at that. _If only she knew…_

"No, she doesn't even know about it," he told her, starting to grow slightly uncomfortable with the direction their conversation was heading.

Sam raised an eyebrow at that. "You really haven't told her?" Freddie shook his head lightly in response. "Well, that's a shock, considering that you made sure Carly didn't forget about your 'love' for her every single day of the week," she commented, adding the air quotes to the word 'love'.

Freddie looked away from her, trying to think of a way to change the subject without making Sam grow suspicious about it, but his mind just didn't seem really cooperative at the moment.

"I just…" He hesitated for a moment, shaking his head lightly as he tried to clear up his thoughts. "She doesn't feel the same way, I can tell," he finally said, still avoiding her gaze.

"You knew that Carly didn't like you that way and you still told her how you felt," Sam reminded him.

Freddie shrugged lightly. "It's not the same thing. I just… I just don't wanna risk my friendship with her."

Sam didn't respond; she simply eyed Freddie for a moment, another weird feeling taking over her.

She suddenly felt bad for Freddie, since she knew very well what he was going through. She knew exactly what it felt like to have unrequired feelings for someone who surely didn't feel the same way. And ironically, this someone was Freddie.

She could somehow tell that Freddie didn't simply have a crush on this girl, and as much as that thought pained her, she knew she couldn't expect Freddie to forget about this girl she didn't even know just to be with her. She knew he'd never do that.

Sam didn't know what was happening to her, but she suddenly found herself feeling the need to encourage Freddie to follow his heart and give this random girl a shot, because as much as it might hurt her to see him with someone else, it hurt her even more to know that he was hurting. She just wanted him to be happy, even if it wasn't with her, because she knew that they would never be together. Freddie would never feel anything for her, she was sure of it.

"You know…" she started, a lump forming in her throat as she thought about the consequences of what she was about to say, but she fought against it and managed to say the words that, in her mind, would end her chances of being with the boy she loved, but were still the right words to say.

Freddie looked back up at her, his eyebrows frowned as he waited for her to go on.

"You're never going to know if she really doesn't like you if you never tell her how you feel," Sam finally said, and Freddie shook his head lightly in response.

"Trust me, it's not that easy," he said.

"Why not?" Sam asked, shrugging lightly.

"She's just... complicated," Freddie said, shaking his head lightly. "I don't really want to talk about it," he added, hoping that Sam just drop the subject.

"Okay then," she said finally, before growing silent for a few minutes. But she felt somewhat unable to simply forget about that subject, so she soon spoke up again. "What is she like?"

Freddie couldn't help but chuckle at her. "Why are you suddenly so interested in my love life?"

Sam hesitated for a seconds before responding. "Boredom, I guess," she replied, shrugging once again.

Freddie didn't seem entirely convinced by her answer, but he spoke anyway. "She's just... amazing in her own way. Nothing seems to get her down. And she's probably the prettiest girl I've ever seen. She has this beautiful smile and ridiculously cute laugh. And..." Freddie paused, thinking that he was probably going a bit too far.

Sam was looking down now, not trusting her ability to hide how she was feeling inside anymore. She feared that if she looked at Freddie in the eye, he'd be able to see all the hurt she felt inside as she heard him talking about this girl he was probably falling for.

"Sam?" Freddie's voice brought her back to reality, but she didn't dare to look up at him. "Sam, are you okay?" he asked, confused by the sudden change in her behavior.

"Yeah, I..." She shook her head lightly, as if trying to clear up her thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Freddie was truly worried now, that much was evident.

"It's... It's nothing, really," she insisted, still avoiding his gaze.

Freddie abruptly stood up and took two steps ahead, before kneeling down right in front of her. "Sam, look at me," he said, his voice earning a serious yet soft tone.

After taking a deep breath, Sam finally made herself look up, only to find Freddie's dark brown eyes staring into her clear blue ones with so much intensity she suddenly found herself unable to look away.

"What's wrong?" Freddie's voice came out just as low as a whisper. He could see something in her eyes - something he couldn't quite define - and he could easily tell that whatever she was feeling, it wasn't good.

Sam simply stared into his eyes, her voice suddenly gone. The way Freddie talked about that girl really cut deep, because even if he hadn't been in love with Carly during all those years he had claimed to be, she knew something for sure - he was falling for this girl, whoever she was. That was, if he hadn't already.

That thought made Sam feel completely shattered on the inside, but she did her best not to show it. The hold Freddie had on her still surprised her. She had never felt something like that for anyone in her whole life, so how easily it was for Freddie to hurt her, even if he didn't know about it, was shocking to say the least.

And as she looked into those two big chocolate brown eyes, she found herself wondering if things might have turned out differently if she hadn't been such a bully to Freddie for all those years.

In that moment, there was nothing she wanted more than to be that insanely lucky girl. But she knew that was impossible, and she was the only one to blame for that. With the constant name calling and beatings she had put Freddie through since the day they had first met, how could he ever feel something for her other than deep dislike?

She just wanted Freddie to talk about her the same way he talked about that girl. She wanted to look into his eyes and find the loving gaze she saw in them when he was talking about that girl.

She wanted him to choose _her_.

In the midst of the whirlwind of emotions she felt inside of her, Sam ended up losing every single bit of rationality she had for a brief second. She rested each one of her hands on each side of Freddie's face and pulled him to her, connecting her lips with his.

* * *

**Author's Note: I love reviews ;D**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	25. Chapter 25: Confessions

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait! But chapter 25 is finally here! =D**

**By the way, I got a review for the previous chapter that I'd like to reply to, but since it's on anon, I'll have to do it here...**

**This is for lovepup33 (and anyone who wonders why I take so long to update).**

**I'm in the process of getting ready for college, and I'm what you could call a 'nerd', which makes me worry a lot more than I should about tests and grades. That leaves me with practically no free time to write, and it's honestly a mystery to me how I still manage to update at all. And on top of it all, I have six multi-chapter stories to write at the same time and I'm rewriting one of them. I'm definitely not complaining about having so many stories or anything (deciding to write each one of them was probably one of the best things I've ever done), but I just wanted to say that I would _never_ abandon a story, it's just really hard for me to find time to write and update regularly, especially now that the end of the school year is appoaching.**

**Thank you for your feedback, though. I really appreciate it. =)**

**Okay, I'm done now XD**

**Disclaimer: I guess there's no point in trying to get Dan to hand iCarly over to me now, since the last episode will air next week... *sighs sadly* Well, I guess Bob will have to find a job as a lawyer somewhere else. XD**

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XP**

**Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 25: Confessions

**Normal POV**

_Sam rested each one of her hands on each side of Freddie's face and pulled him to her, connecting her lips with his._

Sam felt Freddie resist for a brief moment, since her sudden action had obviously shocked him greatly, but much to her surprise, his lips soon melted against hers, fitting perfectly against the shape of her own.

The feeling of having his lips pressed against hers again was amazing. She remembered the kiss they had shared one year ago perfectly, and it had indeed been one of the best things she had ever experienced, but there was no denying that this kiss was over a hundred times better than their previous one.

Her lips barely moved against his, but this time, the atmosphere wasn't so awkward it was even hard to breathe like it had been during their first kiss.

Even though the kiss was pretty short and shy, it still made Sam's stomach flip around and her heart race like crazy inside her chest, and when she was finally able to make herself pull away from him after a few seconds, she was breathing slightly heavier than before.

And just then Sam realized what she had just done.

Her eyes widened at the realization that had suddenly struck her, and she opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Her voice seemed to have suddenly vanished as tried to make her mind form some kind of coherent sentence, but she found herself unable to do so.

Freddie seemed to be just as speechless as she was as he stared at Sam with a shocked expression on his face, his lips slightly parted, which didn't help Sam figuring out what to say at all. She knew that she needed to say something – _anything_ - but her brain seemed to have ceased functioning properly for the time being.

"Freddie, I…" she started, but her voice died down as she realized that she had no idea what she wanted to say. Apologize? Tell him that this never happened? She had no idea. "I'm sorry, I just… I shouldn't have…" Sam tried to say something anyway, but just like she had expected, she failed terribly at it.

"Sam…" Freddie seemed to be just as at a loss for words as she was.

"Just…" She shook her head, desperately trying to clear up her thoughts. "This never happened, okay?" she finally said, not finding anything better to say at that moment.

"What?" Freddie asked, disbelief clear in his voice. "You just_ kissed _me, Sam, and now you want me to just pretend it never happened?"

Sam looked down, suddenly unable to hold Freddie's intense gaze with her own. "Just… Just forget it, please," she insisted.

"Sam," Freddie said, trying to make her look up at him, but much to his annoyance, she didn't. "Sam, look at me." He used the same firm yet calm tone he had used before, and just like the previous time, it worked.

Sam hesitantly made herself look up at Freddie, and she, more than ever, wished she could simply vanish from that elevator in that exact moment.

Sam had never been good at situations like this - being confronted by someone, with no way out. She felt cornered, and everything she wanted to do was to simply disappear, just so she wouldn't have to face Freddie like that. But she knew that wouldn't be possible.

"What is going on here?" Freddie's voice was almost pleading, and that only made it even harder for Sam to decide what to say next.

Sam opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. As she stared into his eyes, the eyes that were pleading for her to explain herself, an emotion she couldn't quite define at the moment suddenly took over her.

She knew that she would never be able to get Freddie to forget about that kiss, so what else could she do except for telling him the truth? She couldn't just not tell him anything; he would never let her get away with what she had just done that easily.

_I mean, it's not like I have anything to lose now, s_he thought to herself, opening her mouth to speak once again.

"You really want to know what's going on?" Sam started, the volume of her voice suddenly raising, which clearly took Freddie aback for a moment. "Fine, I'll tell you." She had no idea where all that courage had suddenly come from, but she knew that she had to say what she wanted to say quickly, or else she might end up chickening out once again. "Imagine yourself thinking you hate someone for over three years, and then you suddenly start feeling something for them. Imagine watching this someone run after your best friend like a lost puppy, claiming to be in love with her. Imagine finding out that this someone didn't actually love your best friend, but apparently, they're falling for someone else. _That_ is what's going on!"

Freddie was silent during Sam's whole outburst, and when she was done, he remained silent. Shock had taken over his features as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, but no words came out.

"Wait," he said, finally regaining his ability to speak. "Are you saying that... that you have feelings for me?" Freddie asked, disbelief clear in his voice. Sam suddenly looked away, but she somehow made herself nod in response, not trusting her own voice. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" Freddie asked.

Sam couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at him. "Isn't it pretty obvious?" she asked, and when Freddie didn't reply, she went on. "You've claimed to be in love with Carly for the past four years. Do you really think I was willing to tell you something like this when I knew what would happen?" She made a short pause. "And it doesn't really matter anyway," she added, looking down once again.

"Of course it does!" Freddie said.

"No, it doesn't," Sam said before he could say anything else. "You're falling for another girl anyway," she added under her breath, but Freddie still heard it.

"Are you really that blind?" Freddie asked, shaking his head lightly at her.

Sam looked up at him, frowning in confusion. "What…?" she started, but before she could finish that, or even process what was going on for that matter, Freddie suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips lightly against hers.

Sam was the one who was shocked this time, but she didn't hesitate at all before she began to kiss Freddie back eagerly.

The kiss didn't last long, though. Sam's eyes instantly shot open when she was finally able to process what was happening, and she quickly pulled away from Freddie.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, obviously surprised by what Freddie had just done.

Freddie simply stared at her for a moment, clearly not sure what he should say. "I just…" He fell silent, unable to form any kind of coherent sentence.

"You just told me that you're falling for some random girl, and when I tell you that I like you, you go and kiss me?" Sam asked in disbelief. She hated to have her emotions played with, and to make it even worse, Freddie was the one who was doing it.

Freddie simply chuckled lowly in disbelief, shaking his head lightly. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Sam asked, annoyed.

"The girl I was talking about earlier?" Freddie asked, and Sam simply raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm looking at her right now."

Sam was frozen, her voice suddenly gone once again. Had she heard him right?

"You… I…" She shook her head lightly, as if trying to clear up her thoughts. "Stop it," she said finally, abruptly looking away from Freddie.

"Stop what?" Freddie asked, frowning at her in confusion.

"I don't want your pity, Freddie," she told him, her tone suddenly firm and determined.

"What are you talking about?" Freddie asked her, eyeing her like she had gone mad.

Sam refused to look up at him as she spoke, as if afraid to meet his gaze. "There's no way you'd ever feel anything for me, Freddie, and nothing you say will change my mind."

"And what makes you think that?" Freddie asked, suddenly annoyed by the fact that Sam wouldn't look at him in the eye.

Sam couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "Isn't it obvious?" She finally looked up at him. "Freddie, I've made your life a living hell every single day of the past four years. I cause you both physical and emotional pain on a daily basis! How the hell could you ever feel anything for someone like that? You should hate me," Sam explained, and Freddie couldn't help but shake his head at her in disbelief.

"And do you really think I'd put up with something like that if I hated you?" Freddie asked. "Sam, this whole… bickering thing we've had going on for the past few years has kinda become… our thing. I can't imagine us being _us_ without it. I guess I could even say that I kinda enjoy it sometimes."

Sam simply stared at him, shock clear on her features as she heard the words that left Freddie's mouth. Her heart was racing inside her chest, since she wanted to believe him with everything she had in her, but there was still a part of her that was hesitant and didn't seem willing to give in so easily.

Realizing that Sam still wasn't fully convinced, Freddie went on.

"Sam, you're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light, you're determined, you're smart, you're funny, and…" Freddie trailed off for a moment. "Every time I'm with you, everything just seems… brighter, you know? You've got the most beautiful eyes and smile I've ever seen, and I swear your laugh is so ridiculously cute I can't stop myself from smiling whenever I hear it." Freddie made a short pause, watching Sam carefully, but she was doing her best to try to hide what she was feeling inside. "I just… I don't know what I can say to you to prove to you that I'm telling you the truth when I say that what I feel for you is definitely not pity. No matter how many times you've punched me or yelled at me, I still fell for you. But I can't prove that to you if you won't even give me the chance to."

Sam was speechless. Not ever, at any point of her life, had she ever thought someone would ever say something like that to her, let alone Freddie. But as she looked into Freddie's deep chocolate brown eyes, the sincerity she found in them made all of her doubts suddenly vanish. No matter how insane and impossible all that seemed, it was true after all. Freddie did feel something for her, and he was more than willing to prove that to her.

"You really mean all that?" Sam found herself asking just to be sure that this wasn't some kind of joke.

"Every word of it," Freddie replied.

A smile broke out on Sam's lips at his words, to which Freddie replied with one of his own.

Sam suddenly found herself being drawn to him, and she slowly began to lean forward, brushing her lips lightly against his and secretly wishing that whoever was fixing that elevator would take a little longer to be done with it.

* * *

"But why did you tell me that Melanie wasn't real, then?" Freddie asked as he ran his hand through Sam's golden curls. She had her head rested against his chest, and he had one of his arms wrapped around her waist, both of them sitting on the elevator floor.

"Well, you were just so sure that she wasn't real, and I knew that you probably wouldn't change your mind any time soon, no matter how many times I told you that she was real, so I kind of got the easy way around, you know?" Sam told him, shrugging lightly. "I wasn't in the mood for arguing around that time because Melanie had been chewing on my nerves and I knew that you'd find out the truth later anyway, so I just let it go."

Silence then fell upon the newly formed couple, but unlike all the other similar moments that had happened in that elevator that day, this one was pretty comfortable. They simply sat there, too lost in each other's embrace to care about anything else but that moment, and being like that just felt so... right.

"Right now, I kinda hope that whatever is keeping this elevator stuck, it takes as much time as it needs," Sam said, suddenly breaking the silence. Her voice was low as she smiled lightly at Freddie, and he chuckled at that, agreeing with her.

"Yeah, well, but that will depend on Carly's will," Freddie said after a brief moment of hesitation, in which he decided that, now that Sam knew the truth, he might as well share what he believed about Carly's plan with her.

"Uh... wait, what?" Sam asked, confused as she looked up at him.

"Do you remember what we were talking about earlier? About how that whole story about Lewbert shutting down the power seemed pretty... weird and stuff?"

"Yeah..." Sam replied, sitting up and turning around to stare at him expectantly.

"Well, Carly found out about how I feel about you some time ago and, well, you know Carly. She loves to come up with crazy plans to get whatever she wants, and I'm assuming she thought that she should intervene, so she got us stuck in here together so we'd finally admit our feelings to each other," Freddie explained, and Sam stared at him in disbelief for a moment, as if processing what she had just heard.

"So... this was all Carly's idea, then? This whole 'elevator getting stuck' thing, I mean," she asked, and Freddie simply nodded at her. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that," she admitted, shrugging lightly. "I wonder what she's going to do when she finds out that her plan worked."

"Yeah, me too," Freddie replied. "She'll probably shoot fireworks and throw a huge party," Freddie joked, and Sam laughed lightly at that.

"Yeah..." Sam seemed to drift off for a moment, and a devious smile suddenly began forming on the corner of her lips.

"Uh... what are you thinking about?" Freddie asked, fearing what he'd hear next, but the curiosity sure overcame that fear.

"What if... we played a little with her mind before telling her what really happened? Like a little... prank," she said, smirking a little.

"But what exactly do you have in mind?" Freddie asked, and he could see that Sam had suddenly got excited with the idea of pranking Carly.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do..."

* * *

"But why did you throw him into the lake, anyway?" Carly asked her older brother the same question for the hundredth time in the last twenty minutes.

Spencer had come back home from his walk in the park with Fluffy a lot earlier than she had thought he would, and turns out that he had had a little... argument with a police officer that had been walking around the park.

According to Spencer, the officer didn't want to let him walk Fluffy around the park, since it - okay, _she_ - wasn't a normal pet, and as they began to argue, Fluffy had somehow broken herself free from her leash and started to run around the grass. Both Spencer and the police officer started to chase her around the park, but they just couldn't catch up with the baby giraffe.

After a few minutes, the police officer finally managed to make the pet calm down and stop running, but when he did it, he didn't want to give the leash back to Spencer because he thought that Spencer wasn't responsible enough to take care of her and because Spencer couldn't show him his license to have wild animals at home - which Spencer actually didn't have, but he didn't feel the need to tell the officer that.

Panicking at the thought of losing Fluffy, Spencer pushed the man inside the lake and ran away from there, taking the giraffe with him and going straight back home.

"I've already told you, I panicked!" Spencer exclaimed, and Carly simply shook her head at him, rolling her eyes.

"Spencer, pushing police officers into lakes is never the answer to any problem!" she told him.

"But the guy was really scary and-" Spencer was interrupted by the sound of Carly's PearPhone's alarm going off, which came from the coffee table in the center of the living room. "What's that for?" Spencer asked quickly, suddenly grateful that he had a chance to change the subject of the conversation.

"It's the alarm I set to remind me it's time to get Sam and Freddie out of the elevator," Carly answered as she turned off the alarm.

"How long have they been in there?" Spencer asked, now more relaxed, since it seemed that Carly hadn't realized that he had been eager to change the subject all along.

"Three hours," she replied, avoiding his gaze as she began making her way toward the stairs.

"Okay, well... _THREE HOURS_?" Spencer's eyes widened in shock at his sister's words, and the event with Fluffy at the park suddenly vanished from his mind. "Whoa, don't you think you pushed things a little _too_ far?"

"You're not helping," she said, sounding annoyed, since she was pretty nervous about how her plan had turned out herself. Now that she really thought about it, she had to admit that maybe she really had actually exaggerated on how long she should leave them stuck in there.

What if it really had been too much time? What if she had been wrong, and it turned out that Sam didn't actually feel anything for Freddie? If that was the case, what could have happened in there? She just now realized how much danger she had put Freddie into.

Carly sighed, trying to push those thoughts away. She was about to pull up the lever that would turn the power of the elevator back on when Spencer suddenly spoke up.

"Wait!" Spencer exclaimed from behind her.

"What?" Carly asked as she abruptly turned around, getting more nervous at each second that went by.

"Let me get out of here first. If they get mad at you, I don't want to be in the middle of it!" Spencer explained as he ran out of the living room and toward his bedroom. When the door of his room was closed shut and locked, Carly heard the muffled sound of his voice coming from inside. "Okay, I'm ready!"

Carly simply rolled as her eyes at her older brother, before taking in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but that didn't really work the way she had hoped it would. Giving up on trying to make herself grow at least a tiny bit less nervous than she was, she pulled up the lever and turned the power of the elevator back on.

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**Author's Note: I wonder what Sam has in mind... Hehe ;P**

**Review! =D**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	26. Chapter 26: Unexpected Outcomes

**Author's Note: Happy New Year! (Yeah, I know, it's pretty late to say that, but this is the first story I update this year, so yeah XD)**

**I know the beginning of this chapter might seem a little confusing, but don't worry, soon things start making sense again XD**

**Disclaimer: Seddie wasn't endgame on iCarly. There was a Creddie kiss in iGoodbye, but not a Seddie one, and even though there's still hope for Seddie with Sam&Cat, iGoodbye was a true disappointment. Do you really think I would ever do something like that to my fellow Seddiers?**

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly!**

**Enjoy! ;)**

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Chapter 26: Unexpected Outcomes

**Normal POV**

The faint sound of the elevator going back to functioning coming from a few floors below could be heard a few seconds after the lever was up.

Carly took a few steps toward the elevator and simply stood there, waiting impatiently to hear the ding that meant the elevator had arrived on that floor and for the elevator doors to open. It was just then that she realized her heart was racing inside her chest, since she knew that there was no turning back now. What was done was done, and the time to face the consequences of her plan had come, being those bad or good.

The wait seemed to take an eternity to be over, but after several seconds that seemed to have dragged on for hours, the elevator finally arrived on the eighth floor, and the two metal doors separated from each other, allowing Carly to have a clear view of the inside of the elevator.

But what she saw in there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Sam and Freddie were sitting in opposite corners of the elevator, as far away from each other as possible, which surely wasn't a good sign.

Sam had her earpods stuffed in her ears and her PearPod was lying on her stomach, but she wasn't paying any attention to whatever song was playing, since she was clearly fast asleep. Her back was resting against the elevator wall and her head was tilted lightly to the side in an apparently not really comfortable position to sleep in.

Freddie had one of his school books resting on his lap, which Carly recognized as Biology II. He seemed to be pretty lost in his reading, but the moment Carly laid her eyes on him, he looked up at her, before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Finally!" Freddie exclaimed, getting up from the elevator floor, before grabbing his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder.

"Uh…" Carly hesitated for a moment as she tried to decide what to say. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied as he grabbed Sam's backpack as well and stepped out of the elevator and into the Shays' living room. "And also glad to finally get out of this thing."

Carly didn't respond; she simply kneeled down next to Sam. "How long has she been asleep?" she asked as she shook Sam's shoulder lightly in an effort to try to wake the blonde girl up, but that didn't seem to be working really well.

"She slept during pretty much the whole time we were in there," Freddie answered from the seat he had taken on the couch.

"So... that was it?" Carly asked hesitantly, gripping tightly onto the last tiny bit of hope she still had inside of her, but she somehow knew it was in vain. "I mean, nothing else happened while you two were in there?"

"No, that was pretty much it," Freddie answered with a light shrug of his shoulders. "We called you right after the elevator stopped, then we were both silent for few minutes, and when I realized it, she was already sleeping, so I tried to entertain myself by studying for next week's Biology test."

Carly felt extremely frustrated when she heard those words, but she did her best not to let it show. Her plan had failed terribly, but at least her two best friends were okay. That last thought didn't make her few any less frustrated, though. All those hours she had spent worrying about how things would play out inside that elevator and every single thing she'd done this morning - everything had been in vain.

Trying to push all those thoughts aside for a moment, Carly turned her attention back to Sam, who apparently wasn't planning on waking up anytime soon.

"Sam?" Carly said, but she got no response from the sleeping blonde. "Sam!" Once again, she got no response.

Carly rolled her eyes as she stood up, stepped out of the elevator and walked to the kitchen. She went straight to the fridge and got a plate filled with ham out of it, before turning around and going back to the elevator. And as soon as she got there, she kneeled back down right in front of Sam and held the plate of ham right in front of the blonde's face.

"Sam..." Carly sang, waving the plate lightly from one side to the other. Sam's eyes shot open as soon as she breathed in the delicious smell of ham, her hands flying up in an effort to grab the plate, but Carly moved it out of the way before Sam could get her hands on it. "Come on, get up," Carly said as she got back to her feet and walked out of the elevator once again.

Sam groaned lightly in frustration. "Oh, come on!" she whined "Why do I need to get up?"

Carly simply gestured to the plate filled with ham. "The ham is waiting," she sang, holding the plate up a little higher.

Sam still hesitated for a moment, but she ended up getting up from the elevator floor slowly and lazily, before taking her earpods out of her ears and stuffing them, along with her PearPod, inside her pocket.

Sam then walked out of the elevator and walked up to where Carly was, coming to a stop right in front of the brunette. "Happy now?" she asked.

"Kinda," Carly replied, handing the plate to Sam, who gladly grabbed it and began devouring the ham hungrily.

"So, the elevator is fixed now, huh?" Freddie, who had been watching their little exchange from his seat on the couch with clear amusement in his eyes, suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had taken over the room.

"Uh... Yeah, I think so," Carly answered, sounding slightly hesitant, even though she was truly trying not to let on just how nervous she was feeling at the moment.

"Good," he replied.

"Yeah, I just hope we don't have to worry about getting stuck in there like that ever again," Sam said after swallowing one of the various slices of ham Carly had given to her. "That's definitely not something I'd like to try again."

When Carly wasn't looking, Sam winked at Freddie, wordlessly telling him that she actually didn't mean what she'd just said, and he gave her a quick smile in response, which all went unnoticed by Carly.

They were all silent for a moment, and in no time at all, Sam was done with her ham.

"So," Sam began as she walked over to the kitchen and put her plate in the sink. "What was it that you wanted to tell us? The thing you texted us about earlier today?"

Carly froze, her eyes widening for barely a second, before she somehow managed to hide her shock. She hadn't been prepared for that question, and she had honestly no idea how to answer that.

She had been so sure that her plan would work that she hadn't even considered the possibility that maybe it wouldn't, and she just now realized that she should have come up with a lie to tell Sam and Freddie in that case.

"Oh, yeah, uh... I was gonna tell you guys that..." Carly tried to come up with something to say, but her mind seemed to have suddenly gone completely blank. _Come on, a distraction, a distraction..._

"Carls? You there?" Sam snapped her fingers in front of her best friend's face as she stared expectantly at the brunette, a hint of impatience clear in her voice.

"Yeah, I..." That was when Carly truly started to panic. She was even beginning to think that Sam and Freddie would find out about her little plan when Spencer's voice suddenly echoed through the living room, coming from inside his bedroom.

"Ouch! Bad Fluffy! Bad Fluffy!" Spencer came running into the living room wearing nothing but his duck boxers, which caused the three teenagers to burst out laughing.

"Uh... Spencer, why are you dressed like that? Or should I say... undressed?" Carly asked, trying to hold back her laughter, but failing horribly at doing so.

"Fluffly ate my pants!" Spencer exclaimed, and his sister couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, well... I really think you should give Fluffy away to someone…" Carly started, but when she noticed the look Spencer was giving her, she changed her mind about what she was going to say. "I mean, to some place where she can live happily with other giraffes."

Spencer rolled his eyes at his sister. "She is happy here!" he told her.

"Yeah, living in an apartment in the middle of Seattle with Spencer really is the dream of every giraffe in the world," Sam said sarcastically, and Spencer glared at her.

"Of course it is!" he said.

"Yeah, sure," Freddie said, also sarcastically and laughing lightly, and Spencer simply glared at the three.

That was when the four of them heard a loud bang coming from Spencer's room.

"Fluffy!" Spencer yelled, before running back into his room. "Fluffy, put that down now!" they all heard him yell before he closed the door of his room shut.

"Anyway..." Freddie broke the silence, still holding back his laughter. "You were saying?" He turned his gaze to Carly, who just didn't seem able to find a way out of the mess she had put herself in.

"Oh, yeah, right. I was gonna tell you guys about, uh... About the idea I had for a new iCarly segment!" Carly said, smiling nervously at her two best friends. "Yep, that's right. That's what I wanted to tell you."

Sam couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her. "So... What is it?" the blonde asked, and Carly tried to come up with something else to say, but she failed horribly at it once again.

Carly remained silent this time, finally giving in. It was clear in Sam's face that she knew something was up, and so was in Freddie's, so Carly saw no point in trying to lie to them anymore.

Carly sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay. The truth is... I didn't actually have anything to tell you," she admitted, and Freddie suddenly stood up from the couch.

"What do you mean?" he asked, walking up to where the two girls were standing, only stopping when he was standing right beside Sam, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I meant exactly what I said," Carly told them, looking down. "I didn't have anything to tell you guys," she repeated, and the two exchanged a quick smile, which once again went unnoticed by the brunette.

"Then why did you text us saying that you had?" Sam asked.

"Because..." Carly sighed, finally looking up at the two as she decided to just get it all over with and tell them the truth. "Because I needed you guys to come here right after school, but I couldn't tell you why."

"But why couldn't you tell us?" Freddie asked, a hint of a smile playing to the corner of his lips.

"I, uh..." The words got caught in Carly's throat when she was about to speak, and Sam and Freddie exchanged another look, this time to wordlessly tell each other that they thought it was already enough. That was probably all they'd get from her.

"You wanted us both to go inside the same elevator together and alone so you could shut down the power while we were in there?" Sam asked, and Carly simply gaped at her for a moment, disbelief clear on her features.

"How do you...?" Carly let the question float in the air.

"It wasn't really that hard to figure it out," Freddie told her, shrugging lightly.

Carly just stood there for a moment, not really knowing what to say next. She knew that the only thing she could do now was apologize, since her two best friends had spent their whole afternoon stuck inside an elevator because of her, and that was exactly what she did next. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't really think it through, and-" she started, but Sam quickly cut her off.

"You don't need to apologize, Carls," Sam told her, interrupting her before she could apologize any more. "We're not mad at you."

Carly frowned in confusion. "You aren't?" she asked, and the two nodded in response.

"Yeah," Freddie replied. "In fact, we even feel like we should thank you for what you did," he added, and Carly seemed to be even more confused than before.

"Thank me? But why would you...?" Carly didn't have the chance to finish that, since Freddie answered her unspoken question by wrapping one arm around Sam's waist and pulling her closer to him. Sam looked up at him and gave him a quick peck on his lips, smiling.

Carly's eyes widened at the sight, and she couldn't stop herself from letting out an extremely loud and high-pitched girly scream as she stepped forward and pulled the two into tight hug.

"I knew it! I knew it! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it actually worked!" Carly kept saying as she jumped up and down in happiness, smiling brightly.

"Okay, Carls, we get it," Sam said after a few seconds as Carly continued to jump up and down, still holding tightly onto Sam and Freddie, and they both could easily tell that she wasn't planning on letting go of them anytime soon.

"Oh, sorry," Carly said as she pulled away from the two. "Okay, I see that you," Carly began, pointing at Freddie. "Obviously didn't study for that test during the whole time you two were in there and you," she continued, now pointing at Sam. "Wasn't asleep during the whole time."

"Yeah, you're right," Freddie replied, smiling, his arm still wrapped around Sam's waist.

"I did fall asleep, though," Sam defended herself, and Carly simply rolled her eyes at her, chuckling.

"You two are gonna tell me everything that happened while you were in there!" Carly demanded, and Sam and Freddie exchanged a brief glance. They had known since back when they were still inside the elevator that Carly would want to know everything that had happened in there as soon as she found out the truth.

"Sure," Freddie replied for the two of them, and Carly clapped her hands excitedly.

"But first..." she started, turning around. "SPENCER!" she yelled, and her older brother came running into the living room once again.

"What? What?" he asked, frantically looking around as he waved the baseball bat he was holding through the air, and the trio was glad to see that he had put another pair of pants on.

"Uh..." Carly stared at him confusedly for a brief moment, but then decided to simply shrug it off. "What would you say if I asked you to make us all spaghetti tacos to celebrate this special day?"

"Special day?" Spencer asked, his gaze then wandering from Carly to Freddie and Sam. It took him a few seconds, but he soon spotted Freddie's arm around Sam's waist and realized just how close to each other they were standing. "No way!" he exclaimed, a smile instantly forming on his lips, before he began doing a little happy dance.

He soon stopped dancing, though. "Oh, wait," he said, frowning.

"What?" Carly asked him, clearly confused.

"That means I owe Socko fifty bucks... Oh, well." He shrugged and resumed doing his happy dance.

"Why do you owe him fifty dollars?" Freddie asked, chuckling Spencer's randomness.

"Because we made a bet on whether or not Carly's plan would work," he explained, shrugging once again. "But well, who cares? Let's start making these spaghetti tacos!"

Spencer continued to dance happily for a few more seconds, but stopped once again when he realized that he was still holding the baseball bat.

"You know what? Why don't you go ahead and get the taco shells out of the cabinet while I go put this back under my bed," he said, before turning around and vanishing back into his room.

As soon as Spencer was out of sight, Carly walked over to the kitchen and started looking for the taco shells, but Sam and Freddie didn't seem like they intended to help her as they simply watched her. Realizing that, the brunette girl turned around and looked over to where they were standing side by side.

"Are you two helping me or what?" she asked, and Freddie finally stepped forward to go help her, but Sam held his arm and gently pulled him back.

"Yeah, but first..." Sam said, and planted a short kiss on Freddie lips, which he gladly responded.

"Awwwww," Carly cooed, smiling at the two. "Okay, that's enough kissing for now. The spaghetti tacos are not going to make themselves!" she told them, and the couple finally pulled away from each other, smiling, before walking up to where Carly was to help her with the taco shells, and Spencer soon joined them in the kitchen.

Carly invited Gibby to come over as well, since he had helped her with her plan, and he got there soon after she called him. And soon enough, the five of them were sitting at the Shays' kitchen table, enjoying their meal and each other's company.

After dinner, Spencer announced that he needed to go feed Fluffy, so he excused himself out of the living room and disappeared into his room, not coming out of there for the rest of the night. Gibby left early too, since he had promised his mother that he'd be home early so he could take care of his little brother, Guppy, while she was out on a date with a guy she had met a few weeks ago.

Freddie's mother had called her son some time before the spaghetti tacos were ready to ask him how he was and if he had gotten home from school without any problems. Freddie could easily tell that she was a bit irritated, but he didn't understand why back then, since he decided it was best not to ask her about it on the phone with all his friends around him.

He soon understood the reason for his mother's irritation, though. After Spencer vanished into his room and Gibby left, Carly, Sam and Freddie were left alone in the living room. They had made a promise that they'd explain everything to each other after dinner, and when they were left alone, Carly explained everything about her plan to Sam and Freddie, including how she and Spencer had tricked Freddie's mother into believing that one of those parenting groups she was a member of would have an emergency meeting that afternoon. And when Carly was done talking about her plan, the couple told her what had basically happened in the elevator, since they knew she wouldn't leave them alone if they didn't tell her at least something about it.

When it started to get late, Sam invited herself to spend the night at Carly's and Freddie said that he'd better go home before his mother came looking for him. He said goodnight to Carly, who then left the living room abruptly right after announcing that Spencer was calling her name from his room, saying that he needed her help with something, which left Sam and Freddie alone in the living room.

"You know Spencer didn't call her, right?" Sam asked, smiling as Freddie sat down beside her on the couch. He laid one arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled closer to him.

"Yeah, I know," he replied, a smile playing on the corner of his lips as he planted a soft kiss on the top of Sam's head. "And I'm happy she did what she did."

"And why is that?" Sam teased, looking up at him and smiling back.

"Well, I don't know, isn't there something you wanna do?" Freddie asked her teasingly, lifting an eyebrow at her, something that she had always thought was extremely cute and sexy.

Sam knew what Freddie was expecting to hear from her, but she decided to tease him a bit before giving him what he wanted. "Yeah, I bet there's a new episode of Girly Cow on right now," she said as she reached for the TV remote that was lying on the coffee table.

Freddie frowned in confusion for a moment, until he saw the look in her eyes and realized that she was just playing with him, and he decided that he might as well play along.

Keeping that in mind, he quickly reached for the remote and grabbed it before she could. Sam quickly looked up at him, pretending to be shocked by what he had just done, but it was clear that she was actually pretty amused by the situation.

"You know, that just reminded me," Freddie began, pointing the remote at the TV. "There's a new documentary about Galaxy Wars coming on tonight, and it-"

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me, you nub!" Sam cut him off, sound both impatient and amused.

Freddie chuckled at her, and then leaned in quickly, capturing her lips with his own without a single moment of hesitation. He was glad that she had given in so easily; his lips had been hungry for hers for hours now.

The remote fell down onto the floor with a low thud, but the couple ignored it; they were just too caught up on each other to notice anything going on around them.

Freddie lifted his right hand and rested it on Sam's left cheek, caressing her skin lightly with his thumb. Sam had one hand on the back of Freddie's head, messing his hair while the other rested on his chest.

Freddie soon found himself wrapping one arm around Sam's waist, pulling her closer to him. Sam then moved the hand that had been resting against her boyfriend's chest up to join the other on the back of his neck, pulling Freddie as close to her as she could.

Freddie's cell phone suddenly beeped, forcefully bringing them both back to reality. The couple hesitantly pulled away from each other, both of them completely out of breath.

Sam laid her head on Freddie's shoulder, breathing heavily, while he looked down at his phone.

"It's my mom," Freddie announced, breathing just as heavily as his girlfriend as he read the text his mother had just sent him. "She said that if I don't get home in the next three minutes, she's coming here to get me herself."

"I guess we'll have to continue this later, then," Sam said, pouting as she leaned back a little so she could look at him.

Freddie chuckled at her. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time for that," he assured her as he stood up from the couch and stuffed his phone back inside his pocket.

Freddie then leaned in once again, until his lips were merely a few inches away from Sam's ear. "Goodnight, Princess Puckett," he whispered sweetly, before planting a soft kiss on the side of her head.

"Goodnight, Fredly," Sam replied, smiling, before she captured his lips with hers in another kiss. It was a sweet short kiss, but at the same time, still pretty intense and passionate.

Freddie somehow managed to make himself pull away from Sam and hesitantly walked over to the front door. He sent her one last smile as he walked out the door, before he closed it shut behind him.

As soon as the door was closed, Sam let out a happy sigh, and she caught herself smiling to herself as she thought about everything that had happened that day.

_I'm dating Freddie._

She kept repeating that thought inside her head over and over again, since its meaning just didn't seem to have actually sunk in yet. It was almost impossible to believe that earlier that same day, she had been trying to avoid Freddie, sure that he didn't feel anything for her and that he was still in love with Carly. If only she had known the truth back then…

And even when her best friend came back into the living room a few minutes later, Sam still hadn't been able to stop smiling.

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**Author's Note: So what will happen to Seddie? Will it be iDate Sam & Freddie all over again or not? And what about Fluffy? Will she ever be able to play with other baby giraffes? Find out in the epilogue! ;D**

**I'll try not to take an eternity to update this time XD**

**Thank you so much for reading! =)**

**Review! ;D**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


	27. Chapter 27: Epilogue

**Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait, but my life has been pretty crazy lately, and judging by the word count of this chapter (about 12k words), I guess you can tell it took me a while to write it and edit it. XP (It's almost 4AM in the morning over here, just so you know XD)**

**This turned out a lot longer than I had thought it would, but I'm quite happy with this epilogue, and I hope you all like it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**I'd like to thank every single one of you for your support. This was my first multi-chapter fic (iSpeak Sleeping wasn't meant to be a multi-chap, so it doesn't really count), and it's pretty surreal to see it over, but I knew this time would come eventually. This fic is quite special to me, because it shows me how much I've changed in the past four years. Back in 2009 when I posted the first chapter of this story, I'm pretty sure I did not have any idea what exactly I was doing. My English was horrible back then, considering that it's not my first language, and I could barely write anything that did not consist of 80 percent dialogue, 18 percent grammar mistakes and 2 percent of something that actually made sense.**

**But I evolved, and it was thanks to you. Writing has become some sort of therapy for me. I do it whenever I can (sometimes even when I'm not supposed to), and it just makes me feel good. I wouldn't have learned to love writing so much (and I also would probably not have grown fluent in English) if it wasn't for this fandom, and I have all of you to thank for that.**

**Okay, last chapters make me emotional, especially this one XD *sighs* Well, I guess I should just shut up now XD**

**Disclaimer: I just can't believe it's the last time I'm about to say this on this story, but... *takes in a deep breath* Bob is a fat chinchilla. There, I said it. It's said, and... Wait, that's not what I'm supposed to say in here, is it? Oh... But then what am I... Oh, yeah! Bob is a terrible lawyer, which might be the reason why Dan never handed iCarly over to me. Yeah, well... *sighs sadly***

**And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XD**

**And I don't own the song!**

**Enjoy! ;)**

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Chapter 27: Epilogue

**Normal POV**

"Do I really have to do this?" Sam whined to her best friend just outside their web show studio.

Carly paused where she was standing, her hand on the door handle, and rolled her eyes at the blonde. "Sam, come on!" the brunette girl pleaded for what she guessed was the hundredth time in the past whole hour. "Don't you dare chicken out of this now."

"I never agreed with this in the first place," the blonde girl muttered, looking down, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Sam, please!" Carly insisted. "You were the one who said you wanted him to know! And I don't think there's a better way to do this! This is brilliant!"

"I don't know, Carls..." Sam said, shaking her head slowly. The truth was that she was extremely nervous; she even believed that she had never felt so nervous in her whole life, and she definitely did not enjoy that feeling.

"You were so excited about this yesterday!" Carly reminded her, her frustration clear in her voice. She paused for a moment as she eyed her best friend, before asking, "Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

Sam bit her lip, hesitating a bit before answering. "I just... I'm freaking nervous, Carly!" she blurted out, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Why are you nervous?" Carly asked, surprised.

"Because! What if no one likes it?" Sam asked, her voice truly desperate. She looked down, and when she spoke again, her voice was so low it was barely a whisper. "What if _he_ doesn't like it?

"Of course he will like it! Sam, how many times have I already told you? He's gonna love it!" Carly insisted, but Sam still didn't seem entirely convinced.

"But—" she started, but stopped abruptly when the studio door was suddenly pushed open.

"Hey, what are you two doing out here?" Freddie asked the two girls from the spot where he stood in the doorway. "The show starts in less than four minutes."

The girls exchanged a brief nervous glance, but Carly beat Sam to speaking.

"We were just discussing how we should begin the show tonight," Carly told Freddie, before turning to Sam. "Right, Sam?" she asked, giving Sam a pointed look.

"Yeah, right," Sam said, but she failed to hide her nervousness.

Freddie eyed the two suspiciously for a moment, and it was obvious that he knew that they were both keeping something from him, but before he had the chance to speak again, Carly spoke up.

"Well, then let's go!" Carly said as she began to make her way into the studio, before adding, "The show starts in three minutes!" And with that, she vanished from sight as she quickly entered the studio.

Freddie raised a questioning eyebrow at Sam, clearly asking for an explanation, but she simply shrugged at him, before following Carly into the studio without another word. Freddie hesitated for a moment, trying to understand the two girls' weird behavior, but he decided that it was better to simply shrug it off for now, since they had less than three minutes to start the web show. He could wait until the show was over to question the two about it.

The last six months had honestly been the best ones of Freddie's entire life. Of course, he and Sam still bickered a lot, but they wouldn't actually be Sam and Freddie if they didn't. The only real and serious disagreement they had had during those few months they'd been going out had been about telling their mothers about their relationship—more specifically, Freddie's mother.

"_You can't __possibly be serious," Sam told Freddie as she walked down the stairs of Carly's apartment by his side after an iCarly rehearsal._

"_Why do you sound so surprised?" Freddie __asked, sounding legitimately confused._

_When they reached the end of the staircase and entered the living room, Sam stopped walking, refusing to follow Freddie any farther._

"_Freddie, we can't tell your mother we're dating!" Sam told him, sounding as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. __"At least not yet!"_

"_Why not?" Freddie asked, clearly impatient as he stopped walking as well and turned around to face her._

_Sam couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's oblivion. "Do you want your mother to die?" she asked, her voice rising. "Because she's going to have a heart attack if she ever finds out about us!"_

"_Ever?" Freddie asked, raising his eyebrows at her. Sam instantly regretted her choice of words, but it wasn't like she could__ take what she had said back, so she remained quiet, waiting for Freddie to continue. "So you really want us to just sneak around forever like we've been doing for the past two months?"_

_Sam shrugged lightly, unsure of how she should respond to that. That wasn't quite what she had meant to say, although his suggestion was pretty tempting. "No," she finally made herself say as she let her arms fall to her sides. "Just until your mother doesn't hate me anymore, which, let's face it, will probably take a while."_

_Freddie seemed shocked by her words, and he found himself eyeing his girlfriend questioningly for a moment before finally speaking again. "My mom doesn't hate you," he told her, his voice a lot calmer than before. __"I mean, she might not be your biggest fan," he continued when he noticed Sam didn't look convinced at all. "But I'm sure deep down she __does like you."_

_Sam seemed to consider his words for a moment, before she began shaking her head lightly. "No, she doesn't," she said matter-of-factly. She then decided to change her approach, trying to find a better way to try to convince Freddie to give up. "Freddie, have you even thought about what her reaction to learning something like this would be?"_

_Freddie hesitated for a second before responding. "Not really," he admitted calmly, shrugging lightly, as if he didn't think it was such a big deal. __"I mean, how bad could it b__e?"_

"_Well, let's see," Sam began, stroking her chin lightly as she pretended to think about what she'd say. "She could burst into flames; she could have a heart attack; she could chase me with broomstick; she could chase __**you**__ with a broomstick; she could be so shocked that she would faint and when she woke up, she would have no memory of her entire life; she could—"_

"_Okay, okay, that's enough," Freddie said, cutting Sam off before she could go on with what seemed to be an e__ndless list. "I get it. She might not react really well to this," he admitted, "but after the initial shock, I really think she would accept it."_

_Sam couldn't stop herself form scoffing at that. "Accept it?" she asked, chuckling lightly, as if Freddie had just told her a joke or something of that sort. "Freddie, we're talking about your mother here," she reminded him, as though he might have forgotten who the subject of their conversation was. "She's not 'accepting' anything!"_

"_How can you know that?" Freddie asked._

"_Well, have you met your mother?" Sam asked in response._

_Freddie sighed. "Sam, come on," he insisted. "Even __**your **__mother already knows about us!"_

"_Yeah, but it's not like she cares that much about my life," Sam said, shrugging, as if it wasn't a big deal. "When I told her I was dating you, do you know what she asked me?"_

"_What?" F__reddie asked with a frown of his eyebrows, already dreading what he would hear next._

"_She asked me what had happened to 'Konah'," Sam told Freddie, adding the air quotes to the word 'Konah'._

"_Konah?" Freddie asked, frowning even more intensely than before __at the unknown name._

"_Apparently, she thought I__ had__ been dating Jonah for the past two years," Sam explained, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she spoke. "But when I talked to her about him while we were actually going out, she hadn't even paid enough attention to get his name right, or to know that I had broken up with him, for that matter."_

_Freddie couldn't stop himself from shaking his head lightly at his girlfriend's words. He couldn't say he was actually surprised, though. Pam Puckett was definitely not in the running for mother of the year. "But that's not the point," Freddie quickly said. "Sam, just think about how easier our lives would be if my mother knew about us." When Sam didn't say anything as she looked down at the floor, Freddie went on. "I mean, we wouldn't have to sneak around anymore like we do now, and I wouldn't have to be lying to her all the time about where I'm going whenever I__'m __out with you."_

"_I guess you're right…" Sam trailed off for a moment, considering what Freddie had just said, but she still didn't seem entirely convinced. "I don'__t know," she finally said, shrugging lightly. "I guess I just don't feel like having to listen to everything she has to say about me."_

"_Sam…" Freddie began, a sigh escaping his lips along with his voice, but Sam didn't give him the chance to finish that._

"_I mean, we both know she's gonna try to convinc__e you to break up with me," she continued, ignoring Freddie's attempts to speak. "And who knows how far she's willing to go to get what she wants? And also—"_

"_Sam!"__ Freddie cut her off, feeling the need to raise his voice so he'd finally have the chance to speak. __"Would you stop that?" He stepped closer to her, resting his hands on her shoulders, giving them a light, reassuring squeeze. "No matter what my mother says or does, I will not let her break us up." He looked deep into her eyes, as if trying to read her mind__, and slowly raised his right hand to brush one stray lock of her golden hair away from her face and carefully tuck it behind her ear, brushing his thumb softly over her cheek. "I promise."_

_Sam sighed, but as she looked deep into Freddie's eyes and saw just how sure he was about every single word he was saying, Sam found herself nodding lightly at him, finally giving in__._

_Freddie smiled at that, giving his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips, before offering her his hand. Sam still hesitated for a brief moment, but she soon accepted his offer, resting her hands in his. Freddie quickly intertwined his fingers with hers, before they both began making their way out of the Shays' apartment and into the hallway that separated the apartment 8-C from the 8-D._

_But just as Freddie was about to pull the door open, he realized that front door was locked. He frowned briefly, clearly confused, since his mother only locked the front door when there was no one in the apartment, which could only mean one thing._

"_Oh, look at that," Sam said, as if reading Freddie's thoughts. "I guess she isn't home." Sam tried to sound disappointed, but it was extremely easy for Freddie to tell just how happy she was to find out that his mother wasn't home. "Well, it seems we won't be talking to her today."_

_Sam began to turn around, obviously intending to go back to Carly's, but Freddie stopped her before she could walk back inside the Shays' apartment._

"_Sam," Fred__die said, his tone just slightly hard. Sam hated the effect Freddie had on her whenever he used that voice with her, since she found herself instantly stopping and turning back around, pausing when she was back to standing right beside her boyfriend. "Come on, we have to do this," he told her, his voice soft once again. "Imagine just how easier our lives will be when my mom finally knows we're dating."_

_Sam sighed, unable to deny the truth in Freddie's words. "Okay, let's just go inside and wait for her or whatever," she said, giving in._

_But before Freddie even had the chance to get his own apartment keys out of his pocket to unlock the door, a glass-shattering high-pitched scream suddenly echoed through the air, and the two teenagers had to cover their ears because of the sound._

_The scream ceased suddenly, though, but it was soon followed by a loud thud coming from the hallway that led to the elevators. Sam and Freddie exchanged a brief confused look, before they both ran toward the source of the sound._

_And as soon as they rounded the corner, they suddenly understood what had happened._

_Marissa Benson was lying unconscious on the floor, the contents of the two grocery bags she had been carrying with her scattered over the floor around her motionless frame._

"_I'__m guessing we won't need to tell her anything anymore," Sam commented as she and Freddie stared at the knocked out woman for a moment._

_Freddie simply gave her a look, before kneeling down right beside his mother._

"_Mom?"__ he asked as he shook his mother's shoulder lightly, trying to bring her back to consciousness. "Mom?" he repeated, a little louder this time, but he once again got no response from the unconscious parent._

"_Maybe we should get her inside," Sam suggested, and Freddie nodded lightly in response._

"_Yeah, I guess so," he agreed as he got back to his feet._

_Freddie then walked over to his mother's head, before sliding his hands under her arms, lifting the upper part of her body from the floor by her arm pits. Taking that as her cue to act, Sam grabbed Marissa's legs, which allowed her to lift the rest of the woman's body from the cold floor._

_And just like that, Sam and Freddie somehow managed to carry Freddie's mother into the apartment and carefully rest her on the couch._

"_I'll go get the groceries from the hallway," Sam announced as soon as she was free from the woman's weight. "See if you can wake her up."_

_And with that, Sam walked out the Bensons' front door, leaving Freddie alone with his unconscious mother._

_Freddie simply eyed her for a moment, already dreading the moment she'd open her eyes and wake up, since he knew very well why she had passed out in the first place._

_His mother had overheard him and Sam talking about telling her about their relationship out in the hallway, and she obviously didn't take it very well. Freddie had indeed expected a not so happy reaction from her part, but it had never even crossed his mind that she would take the news __**that**__ badly. _

_But maybe her fainting had just happened due to the initial shock, and maybe after she woke up and he and Sam talked to her, she would finally calm down and accept their relationship._

_Or at least he hoped so._

_Sam soon walked in the apartment carrying the grocery bags. "Baby, where am I supposed to put these?" she asked, since she knew just how paranoid Freddie__'s__ mother was with absolutely everything, and the blonde would honestly not be surprised if Freddie told her his mother had some sort of ritual to empty those bags, like relabeling whatever she had bought or weighing each item to know if the weight on the label was really correct._

"_Leave them on the kitchen island," Freddie replied, tearing his eyes away from his mother. "I'll take care of them later."_

_Sam nodded lightly as she closed the Bensons' front door with her foot and walked to the kitchen. She was back shortly after that, joining Freddie by the side of the couch as they eyed his mother for a moment._

"_So, we just wait for her to wake up?" Sam asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "Or should we just throw a cup of water in her__ face?"_

"_I think we should wait," Freddie replied__,__ not really happy with the second option Sam had suggested._

"_Okay," Sam replied, shrugging lightly. "But if you do decide for the water thing, can I do it?"_

_Freddie chuckled as he looked up at Sam, who simply shrugged lightly in response. _

_Before either one of the two could say anything else, though, Sam's phone suddenly beeped, signaling that she had just received a new text message._

_Sam quickly fished her phone out of her jeans pocket and read the message displayed on her screen. She couldn't help but smile as she said, "Oops, I guess I won't be here when your mother wakes up, after all."_

_Freddie frowned at that. "Why not?" he asked._

_In response, Sam simply held her phone up with the screen turned to him, which allowed Freddie to read the message she had just received from Carly._

_**Can u come over now? Hair emergency!**_

"_Hair emergency?" Freddie asked, tearing__ his eyes away from Sam's phone to let them meet his girlfriend's deep blue ones._

"_Carly has a date tonight with some cute guy she met at the Groovy Smoothie,"__ Sam explained. "And I guess she needs some help getting ready."_

_Freddie knew Sam was expecting him to try to convince her to stay, but the truth was that his mother's fainting had made him realize that maybe it would be better if Sam wasn't in the room when she woke up, since he could tell just how bad her reaction to him and Sam dating would most likely be._

"_You know," he began__,__ "I think it's best that you're not here when she wakes up."_

_Sam looked like she just couldn't believe what she had just heard. "For real?" she asked, a small smile already forming on her lips._

"_For real," Freddie replied, nodding lightly._

"_Thank you!" Sam said, grinning as she grabbed Freddie's face with both her hands and gave him a long, drawn out kiss._

_Freddie couldn't help but smile at her happiness as Sam quickly made her way over to the front door, as if afraid that he might change his mind at any second. "I'll go over there when it's over," he told her as she pulled the door open. "You know, to fill you in on how it went."_

"_Okay!" Sam replied, and the door closed shut behind her._

_Freddie stared at the door for a moment, before finally making himself move from the spot where he had been standing for the past ten minutes as he began making his way to the kitchen._

_He began to get the things his mother had bought out of the grocery bags, but he didn't have time to get over five items on the kitchen island._

_A low groan reached Freddie's ears, coming from the living room, and he quickly darted out of the kitchen. And as soon as he entered the living room, Freddie kneeled down in front of the couch, just so his face was the same height as his mother's._

"_Mom?" he asked, __his tone urgent, and Marissa finally opened her eyes._

"_Freddie?" she asked, sounding pretty lost and confused. "Where am I?"_

_Freddie hurried to get to his feet and then helped her sit up before responding. "In our living room," he told her calmly, carefully choosing every word he said. "You passed out in the hallway, and Sam and I carried you in here and laid you down on the couch." Freddie was nervous to say Sam's name as he spoke, but he knew he'd have to do so eventually, so he might as well just do it then._

_At the mention of Sam's name, Marissa's eyes widened, as if just now she remembered what had made her pass out in the first place. Her expression soon changed, though. She shook her head, before finally speaking again. "You and Sam?" she asked, laughing nervously. "That's funny, because I think I must have had a dream about you and her last night or something."_

"_A dream?" Freddie asked, raising his eyebrows at her. His mother was obviously in denial about what she had hea__rd, assuming that it had been a dream._

"_Yeah," his mother continued, chuckling lightly, as though what she was telling him was the most ridiculous and crazy thing in the world. "I dreamed that you were actually __**dating**__ her." She let out another nervous laugh. "Can you believe that?"_

_Freddie hesitated for a moment before responding to that. He knew what his mother wanted to hear, and she certainly wouldn't be happy with what she would actually hear, but he knew this had to be done. "Well, actually…" Freddie began, looking down for a second. He drew in a deep breath, finally making himself meet his mother's gaze once again. "I am dating Sam."_

_Silence._

_Marissa's face fell at Freddie's words. Her face was emotionless, as if she had no idea how to respond to that. Freddie waited patiently for the news to actually sink in, but he soon began to worry that his mother would slip into unconsciousness once again._

_Fortunately__—__or maybe unfortunately, he couldn't be entirely sure—that didn't happen._

"_You…" Marissa began, finally breaking the silence. "You can't be serious." She shook her head as she spoke, eyeing Freddie with nothing but pure panic in her eyes. The idea of her son and Sam as couple seemed to truly freak her out, and just for a moment, Freddie almost backed down._

"_I am serious," Freddie finally said, his tone firm. "__Sam and I have been dating for about two months now, actually."_

_His mother looked as though she had just been slapped hard right across the face. Her mouth was hanging open, as if she was trying to say something, but no words came out._

_Finally, after several dragged on seconds, Marissa finally spoke again. "No," she said, her tone firm. "You're not dating her."_

"_Excuse me?" Freddie asked, frowning._

_Marissa stood up from the couch before responding to that. "I forbid you to date that girl," she explained._

"_What?" Freddie asked, shocked with his mother's answer. "You can't forbid me to date Sam."_

"_I'm your mother, Freddie," Marissa replied, her tone unusually calm, as if she really thought that answer would solve everything and that Freddie would just give up. "And I believe that means I can."_

"_No, it doesn't," Freddie replied, his voice challenging and filled with conviction__.__ His mother would not be able to play that card on him again; at least not this time, and not with **this**._

_Marissa gasped, her eyes wide with shock. This was the first time Freddie had ever responded to her in such manner, and there was only one person she could blame for that. _"_See?__ Look at what that delinquent has already done to you!" she exclaimed, her voice rising. "You've never talked back to me before!" She shook her head in disbelief. "What's the next step? Robbing banks together?"_

_Freddie pinched the bridge of his nose, not believing what he was hearing. Was she serious? "Mom, are you even listening to the things you're saying?" he asked, not even bothering to hide his shock._

"_At least someone is!" she replied.__ "Freddie, don't you see this might ruin your life?" she continued before Freddie had the chance to say anything. "That girl will only hold you back! She's irresponsible, has no respect for anyone, doesn't even care about her future and has even been arrested!"_

"_Stop! Mom, please, just…" Freddie shook his head, disbelief clear in his features. He couldn't take this anymore; his mother would have to accept his relationship with Sam, because he wasn't willing to simply give it up. "You don't even know Sam to go and say all those things about her, because if you did, you'd know that none of those things are true!" Freddie knew he was responding in a slightly explosive manner, but he just could not control it; he just couldn't take his mother talking about Sam like that._

_Marissa opened her mouth to speak, but Freddie didn't even let her begin. He wasn't done talking, and he would make his mother listen to what he had to say, no matter how many times he'd have to interrupt her._

"_Do you even know how much she went through when she was younger?" Freddie asked, his voice rising a bit as he spoke. "__She had to pretty much raise herself because her mother didn't care about her and her father left without a trace. Her sister had to get a scholarship at some boarding school on the other side of the country to get away from all that!" Freddie was breathing slightly heavier than usual and his heart was racing inside his chest, but that wasn't enough to make him stop. "Sometimes she had to steal food so she wouldn't starve or clothes so she wouldn't freeze to death in the winter, because her mother never even bothered to pay for her food or clothing!"_

_Marissa's face was emotionless, but at least she had given up on yelling at Freddie, though he wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad sign._

"_She didn't use to steal things because she wanted to, she did it to survive!" Freddie went on. "She would sometimes borrow stuff from Carly or eat over at her place because she didn't have anything to eat or wear, but she didn't tell us about all that until one year ago, because now her mother seemed to finally realize that she has a daughter living under her roof__." Freddie shook his head lightly once again __as he remembered the night Sam had opened up to both him and Carly, and how horrified both of them had been with everything they were hearing. The only parental figure Sam had had in her life had been her uncle Carmine, who had been the only member of her family who seemed to truly care about her._

_Marissa still refused to say something, and Freddie took that as a sign for him to go on._

"_And did you know that Sam finally decided that she will go to college?" he continued, his voice slightly lower than before as he began to slowly regain control over himself. "She hasn't yet decided what she'll do and still isn't fully convinced that she can do it, but I know that she can. She's been working a lot harder in school, and last week, she even got a higher grade than me in a History test."_

_Marissa was now looking down at the carpet, as if she couldn't even bear to look at Freddie in the eye. Freddie just wished he could know what was going through her head in that moment, for he found it impossible to read her face._

"_I know that you don't like her a lot," Freddie continued, sighing. His voice was now back to its normal volume, though the conviction that had filled every word he had said up until then still remained in it. "But Sam is not any of those things you said, and I'm not going to let you talk that way ab__out the girl I love."_

_Marissa looked up__ abruptly__, her eyes wide with shock, since she obviously hadn't expected to hear that Freddie actually loved Sam. __"I… I didn't…" __She shook her head lightly, as if trying to clear up her thoughts. "You love her?"_

_Freddie simply nodded in response, deciding to remain silent._

_Marissa was silent for a moment, as if processing everything she had just heard. She seemed to be having a lot of trouble with it, but she soon ended up sighing in defeat. "I guess there's nothing I can do about it, if you really do love her," she finally said, the calmness that had suddenly taken over her voice contrasting with the desperation that had impregnated it barely one minute ago__.__ "I just had never even imagined you might end up falling for that girl." She shook her head once again. "I'll give her a chance," she announced, and Freddie felt a wave of relief washing over his body. "She seems to have a much more complicated backstory than I had thought, and I guess I really don't know her that well." She made a short pause. "I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Freddie."_

_Freddie simply nodded in response as he replied, "I do."_

That fight with his mother wasn't something Freddie would ever like to experience again, but it had been necessary, and now, almost four months later, his mother seemed to actually begin to accept Sam. She just refused to leave the two of them alone in the same room whenever Sam was over at his place, but he knew he shouldn't have expected anything different coming from his mother.

Back then, though, Sam was still acting normally around him, but since a few weeks ago, she had started to act pretty weird whenever she was with him, as if she was nervous that he would say something she feared to hear or something.

And in no time at all, Carly joined Sam on the whole acting weird around him business, and that made him conclude that the two were hiding something from him, but he had absolutely no idea what that could possibly be.

He had tried not to be too bothered by that, though, which was becoming a much harder task as the days passed, and to be honest, all that secrecy was already beginning to freak him out.

When Freddie walked inside the studio, he caught sight of Sam and Carly doing their usual warm ups before the webcast started, but he could easily tell there was something wrong with Sam.

During the past few years, he had found out just what a hard person she was to read. Sam could be pretty unpredictable when she wanted to, and she wasn't the one to open up to people easily.

But now that they had been together for almost six months, he found himself knowing what was going through her head a lot easier than it had once been, and that was how he instantly knew that, by the way she seemed so tense and nervous, there was something up with her, and he hated not knowing what that was, because that way he had no way to try to make things better.

Sighing quietly to himself, Freddie made his way over to his tech cart to make sure everything was ready for the fast approaching web cast one more time, even though he already knew that everything was perfect from the three previous times he had already checked. He just saw it as a way to keep his mind off his girlfriend for some time, and that was something he really needed to do at that moment.

But as he checked everything, he was unaware of the nervous glances Sam kept sending in his direction at each second that passed.

Sam had honestly never felt so nervous in her entire life.

She was still trying to understand why the hell she had agreed to do this in the first place, but she found herself unable to do it.

It had all started about two months.

It was her and Freddie's four month anniversary together, and Freddie had taken Sam out for dinner at her favorite restaurant. Sometimes Sam caught herself wondering how she had been lucky enough as to have such an amazing boyfriend like Freddie, and that night was precisely one of those times. He was honestly the sweetest and kindest boy she had ever met, and he was such a gentleman it was even cheesy sometimes, but she loved it anyway.

And she loved him too, even though she had never said it out loud.

Sam had never been the one to express her feelings easily, so it was no surprise that she hadn't told Freddie just how deep her feelings for him actually were up until then, the fact that she had had no idea how deep his feelings for her actually were as well not helping her at all.

But everything had changed that night.

_"Tonight was amazing," Sam told Freddie as they walked up to the front porch of her house._

_Freddie smiled at her. "I'm glad to hear that," he said. _

_"As much meat as I could eat? How could I not have loved it?" Sam asked, smiling back at him._

_Freddie didn't reply; he simply chuckled at her. He thought her love for food was truly adorable, but he had never dared to say that out loud, since he knew just how much Sam hated to be called cute or adorable._

_They both paused by the front door of Sam's house, simply staring at each other for a long, silent moment._

"_You know," Sam began, suddenly breaking the silence. Her voice was low and even a bit hesitant. "Sometimes I think I don't deserve you."_

_Freddie frowned at her. "Why would you think that?" he asked, confusion clear in both his voice and features._

"_Because…" Sam trailed off for a moment, unsure of how to put her thoughts into words. "You're just so sweet and gentle and pretty much the boyfriend every girl dreams about, and I'm just…" Sam shook her head lightly. "Me," she finally said, shrugging lightly._

"_Sam," Freddie began, shaking his head lightly at her, as if he didn't believe she had actually just said that. "You know that's not true," he told her. "How many times have I already told you how amazing you are?" He made a short pause. "And anyway, if someone here doesn't deserve the other, it's me."_

"_What? No, you're__—" Sam was about to protest, but Freddie quickly cut her off by pressing his lips lightly against hers._

_The kiss was short, but it was already enough to make Sam forget her own name for a moment. It was still surprising what effect Freddie had on her, but she definitely wasn't complaining._

_When Freddie tore his lips away from hers, he rested his forehead lightly against hers as he stared deep into her eyes. _"_I don't wanna hear it," he whispered, his eyes still completely focused on hers intensely. "No matter how many times you deny it, you are amazing, and beautiful, and funny, and smart, and determined, and you can be so kind when you want to." Freddie made a short pause, as though to allow his words to sink in, before adding, "You just don't let people see that side of you very often."_

_At those words, Sam found herself throwing her arms around Freddie, hugging him tight. A warm feeling washed over her, and she honestly felt like the happiest person alive._

_And that was when it happened._

"_I love you."_

_As soon as she heard those three words being whispered into her hair, Sam suddenly felt completely frozen. She couldn't tell how much time had passed until she finally made herself pull away from Freddie, but she was sure that it had been over a minute. She simply stared at him for a long moment, her voice long since gone. She knew what he was expecting her to do, which was precisely what she __**wanted**__ to do, but instead of saying those words back to him, she found herself leaning in and capturing his lips in another kiss._

Sam knew that had been the perfect opportunity she had been waiting for so long—the perfect time to tell Freddie that she loved him, because she truly did, but for some reason, she found herself unable to do it. She blamed it on the fact that he had caught her completely off guard. She had known that Freddie really liked her—he had made that pretty clear during those entire four months they had dated until then—but she couldn't have even imagined that he truly loved her, which ended up shocking her to such a level that she found herself unable to say it back to him.

She cursed herself for hours straight after that. She had never told Freddie about her feelings because she feared that he didn't love her back, but now she knew that he loved her too, so why hesitate?

Sam had waited for the next opportunity; for the moment it felt right to say the three words she had never dared to say to anyone else other than to her best friend, but even those times they had not held such an enormous meaning as they did now.

But it never came.

As the days passed, Sam began to fear that she was waiting for too long; she feared that Freddie might begin to think that she didn't love him back. Freddie was acting just like usual, though. There were no signs that he was hesitant around her or unsure about their relationship, but it wasn't like she had ever had any kind of long-lasting relationship before, so what did she know?

She feared that if she waited for too long, Freddie would end up breaking up with her over this, and that was something she surely wouldn't be able to handle, so she finally decided to do something about it.

She had tried to come up with the perfect scenario; the perfect place; the perfect words. But every time she tried, her mind came up blank. She had never been good with the romantic stuff—Freddie was always the one who planned their dates—so how could it be any different? Whenever she thought that she had finally found the perfect idea, she realized several flaws in her plan, and she immediately dropped it, going back to the beginning of the process.

And when she couldn't take all that any longer, she decided to ask the only person who could help her for guidance.

Carly.

Carly had always been a hundred times better than Sam with that sort of thing, and as soon as Sam voiced her thoughts to the brunette, Carly's head was suddenly filled with a dozen ideas for what Sam could do.

None of those were what Sam had been looking for, though.

Every single one of Carly's ideas was just too… well, not _her. _They all involved some kind of fancy dinner or walking in the park under the moonlight, and none of those scenarios seemed like the right one to Sam.

Carly was clearly disappointed that Sam hadn't liked her ideas, but that wasn't enough to make her give up on the issue. The girls stayed over three days trying to think of something that Sam would approve, but at each minute that passed, that seemed like an even more impossible task.

That was, until the subject of Sam's notebook was brought up once again.

Now, Sam didn't need to feel exactly defensive when it came to her diary, but she was still slightly hesitant to talk about it, nonetheless. It was something too private to be shared, even with her best friend, but now that Carly knew about how she felt about Freddie, she felt almost obligated to tell her best friend the truth about what she had been hiding from her for the past few months.

It had happened one day when Carly asked Sam about her weird behavior when it came to that notebook. At first, Sam had tried to change the subject of the conversation, suddenly feeling unusually uncomfortable, but she ended up giving in to Carly's questions and decided to open up.

Carly was extremely surprised when she learned that Sam had actually written a few songs, but the shock that had been clear on her features was soon replaced by an emotion Sam wasn't able to identify at first.

"_I got it!" Carly__ exclaimed as she ran her eyes over one of the songs Sam had showed her._

"_What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked, eyeing her best friend curiously._

"_The idea we've been looking for!" Carly replied, and Sam couldn't help but frown at her. Noticing __Sam's confusion, Carly went on, explaining her idea._

_Sam listened to Carly's idea carefully for some time, but she soon found herself shaking her head lightly._

"_No," Sam said when Carly was done, still shaking her head. "Not a chance."_

"_Why not?" Carly asked, clearly disappointed._

"_I can't do that, Carls!" Sam said, standing up from the Shays' couch and making her way toward the kitchen with the intention of getting herself a can of Peppy Cola from the fridge._

_Carly quickly followed her into the kitchen, though. "Oh, come on!" she said, practically whining. "Sam, it's perfect! Just think about it!"_

"_But what if Freddie doesn't like it? Or what if no one likes it?" Sam asked as she yanked the fridge door open._

"_You won't know what will happen if you__ don't even try," Carly told her matter-of-factly, and even though Sam didn't want to admit it, she couldn't deny the truth in her best friend's words._

It took Carly several days, but she somehow managed to convince Sam to at least give her idea a chance.

One night, while Sam was over at Carly's apartment, the brunette asked her if she knew how to play the guitar. Sam had told her that she had indeed learned to play it over three years ago because one of her aunts who were on parole had taught her for a few months, but after her aunt had gone back to prison, she hadn't even had the chance to touch another guitar ever again.

That problem was solved in just a matter of minutes. Carly asked Spencer if he could call Socko, and they soon found out that Socko had a cousin who had an instrument store and was willing to lend them a guitar.

And the next day, when Sam walked inside Carly's room, she immediately caught sight of a deep blue guitar resting on Carly's bed.

It had taken a lot of convincing from Carly's part, but soon enough, Sam found herself hesitantly resting the guitar on her lap and calmly running the tips of her fingers over the chords. At first, it was pretty easy to tell that she hadn't even touched a guitar in a very long time, but as the days passed and Sam kept practicing, she soon got the hangs of it again, and she did it so well that it was impossible to tell that she had gone so long without playing.

The initial idea was to choose one of the songs that Sam had written over the past few months, but Sam just didn't feel really happy with that perspective, which was precisely why one day she asked Carly if she could take the guitar home with her just for one night.

Sam simply sat around in her room, constantly changing her position in an effort to try to make herself more comfortable as ran the tips of her fingers over the chords of the guitar, trying to come up with something, but her mind insisted on coming up blank. It had taken her several hours of writing down innumerous sentences that were either pointless or completely lacked any rhythm, sometimes both, but after a long time, the inspiration she had been looking for so desperately finally hit her.

There was no need for Sam to be silent as she tried to make the song perfect, since her mother had traveled to Las Vegas with her latest boyfriend and would surely not be back any time soon. Sam played every single part of the song over thirty times until she was somewhat content with her work, but that had taken so long that when she was done, both her fingers and throat felt extremely sore and the sun had already begun to rise.

However, the results of her work turned out to have been worth the sleepless night. Even Carly was impressed with what Sam had come up with, and after she had heard the song for the fifth time, she had decided it was time to put her plan into action.

During the iCarly creative meeting later that week, Carly and Sam both planned a slightly shorter webcast than the previous ones, and when Freddie and Gibby pointed that out, they simply said that they were still working on some new segment that wasn't ready just yet, but they told them that they wanted to add it to the next webcast, and that they would fill the two in it later.

That didn't happen, though.

Carly and Sam had to keep what would really happen during the last few minutes of their next webcast a secret from Freddie for very obvious reasons, but they also had felt the need to not tell Gibby about it as well. Freddie and Gibby were pretty close friends now, and considering that Gibby was pretty much horrible at keeping secrets, telling him the truth was an extremely risky move, and that risk was something the two girls just could not afford.

That had been one week ago, and honestly, Sam had been completely thrilled about all that back then. But now, she wasn't so sure if she could do this anymore.

She couldn't stop herself from thinking about every single detail in Carly's plan that might go wrong tonight, and every single one of those would surely have catastrophic consequences. The possibilities were so numerous and frightening that Sam felt like simply running out of that studio at any given moment, just so she wouldn't have to go through any of that. She knew that sounded incredibly coward of her, and Sam Puckett was definitely not a coward, but this particular situation was nothing like anything else she had ever experienced before in her entire life, and considering that there was just so much at stake, she had very good reasons to want to chicken out this time.

In spite of everything she was feeling inside, however, Sam somehow made herself stand her ground, telling herself that she could do this, and that she was getting herself worked up for nothing, because everything would go on just fine.

That didn't help much, though.

"Fifteen seconds!" Freddie's voice brought Sam back to reality abruptly, which was a pretty good thing, since she was pretty sure that she wouldn't have seen the blue remote he had tossed her if he hadn't spoken.

Sam looked to her side, only to find Carly watching her carefully. Her best friend gave her arm a light encouraging squeeze and smiled warmly at her, and it was like Sam could actually hear Carly telling her that everything would be okay and for her not to worry so much about it.

Sam just hoped Carly was right.

"In five, four, three, two…" Freddie pointed at the two girls, telling them that they were live.

"I'm the brunette!" Carly said, smiling as she jumped in front of the camera, entering the shot.

"And I'm the blonde!" Sam said, doing her best to smile as well and not let the viewers at home notice just how nervous she actually was on the inside.

The show went on perfectly, even though Sam caught herself spacing out a lot during it. She just couldn't make herself focus on Gibby's Dr. Lobster bit or on The Cowboy with a Mustache and the Idiot Farm Girl who thought the Mustache was a Squirrel. No matter how much she tried to simply not think about what she would be doing in just a matter of minutes in front of over a million people around the world—and most importantly, Freddie—she just couldn't get her mind off of it for longer than just a few seconds.

The end of the web show came a lot faster than Sam had hoped it would, and when she realized what was going on, there was only one brief announcement before the final number of the night.

"Next up on iCarly," Carly began, smiling at the camera as Sam helped Gibby out of the bathtub full of mayonnaise they had set for him in the center of the studio. "We'd like to share a few pictures with you, fans of iCarly."

As Carly spoke, Sam walked up to where the brunette was, pausing when she was standing just beside her best friend. She knew that this little announcement they were about to make wouldn't take longer than just a few minutes, and that thought made her feel even more nervous than she already was; that was, if that was even possible.

"A few months ago, my brother Spencer obtained a quite… unusual pet," Carly went on as the TV screen just above the car prop swung forward and a picture of Fluffy, Spencer's little baby giraffe, appeared on the screen.

"Isn't she adorable?" Sam asked, stepping in front of Carly and pouting at the camera, before taking a step back, going back to the spot where she had been standing right next to Carly.

"Well, she _was _adorable," Carly went on, looking into the camera, "until she got bigger and would soon not fit in the living room anymore." Another picture popped up in the screen, this time one a little more recent. Fluffy was just as tall as Spencer in the picture, and the image of her on a pink leash was pretty unusual to say the least.

"Apparently, Spencer did not predict the fact that Fluffy would get as big as a bus in just a matter of months," Sam said, allowing a hint of sarcasm to slip into her voice. "Because, I mean, who would?"

"So, before Fluffy got too big to go through the front door and would never be able to leave the apartment ever again, we tried to find a solution to this little… issue," Carly continued. "And by solution, we mean finding Fluffy somewhere better for her to live."

"A place where she could just live peacefully and chill in the sun with other giraffes," Sam added, momentarily forgetting her little internal crisis. "Show them the pictures, Fredward."

"Showing the pictures," Freddie replied as he quickly took a step back so he could press a few buttons on his laptop, which made another picture of Fluffly pop up in the screen.

In this one, though, Fluffy wasn't in the Shays' apartment. She was in what looked like some sort of field, but it wasn't hard to see a fence in the distance. In the next picture, Spencer was standing right beside her, holding the giraffe's favorite Frisbee in one hand while his other hand rested against her side. It wasn't hard to notice in the picture just how much taller than Spencer she was now.

"That's right, folks," Sam broke the silence as Freddie aimed the camera back at the two girls. "Fluffy has now permanently moved to the Seattle Zoo."

"And guess what?" Carly spoke up, smiling at the camera. "Spencer has the permission to visit her every day and play with her three times a week, since the zoo's veterinarian says that apparently makes her happy."

"And you can visit her too!" Sam added. "Just don't give her food."

"Yeah, the zoo's people don't like that," Carly agreed, nodding her head vigorously.

Sam stepped forward just so she was the only one on the shot. "Trust us, we know," she said lowly, giving the audience a pointed look, before stepping back, going back to standing in her usual spot next to Carly.

"Well, this would be the time when we'd end the show, if we were planning to follow the script tonight," Carly began, sending a glance toward Sam. "Right, Sam?"

Sam swallowed dryly, nervousness suddenly taking over her. "Yes, it would," she managed to say, giving the audience a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"But we're not!" Carly continued, ignoring Sam's stiffness.

While Carly spoke, Gibby, now completely clean and mayonnaise-free, walked out of the door that led to the small closet in the back of the studio, which was usually used by the iCarlies for storage or when they had a guest star on the show and they needed somewhere for the person to wait until it was time for them to appear on screen. He was carrying the same tall black stool they had used when Jake Krendall had performed on the show over two years ago.

Gibby wordlessly set the stool in the center of the studio and walked up to the car prop, next to which he had left the microphone earlier that same day, already in its support and tested before Freddie had arrived for the show. He had no idea what all that stuff was for, though; he was just following Carly's orders to set all that up for a… special guest, as she'd described, but for some reason, she had refused to go into too much details about it.

In spite of his lack of knowledge about what was about to take place in that studio, Gibby did his job perfectly, and after setting the microphone right in front of the stool, he vanished as he re-entered the storage room.

Freddie watched all that in silence, his brows furrowed in confusion. All this seemed to have been planned long before the show, but how come he was the only one who seemed to have absolutely no idea what was going on? When there was some kind of script change, usually everyone was informed so no one would be lost like he was right now during the show. But this surely wasn't improvised, so how come he hadn't been informed about this?

Sam was trying her best not to look in Freddie's direction. She knew that if she did, she might lose the tiny amount of courage she still had in her. She had been looking forward to this moment during the past whole month, and she wouldn't let herself ruin her only chance to do this because she chickened out at the last minute.

Gibby soon came back out, and this time, he was carrying the deep blue guitar that had been so familiar to Sam during the past few weeks. He walked up to where the two girls were standing, and when he reached the two, he held the guitar out for Sam to grab, for he had been told that she would be the one to give it to the guest star.

Little did he know, however, there was no guest star.

Sam hesitated, eyeing the guitar as if it might bite her if she went anywhere near it. Carly gave her a very subtle nudge, and when Sam looked at her, the brunette gave her a shy encouraging smile, nodding lightly.

Sam took in a deep breath, before slowly taking the guitar from Gibby and sitting down on the stool.

Gibby frowned at that, giving Carly a questioning look, but the brunette simply told him to keep going. Gibby shrugged, deciding to let it go for now.

As Gibby adjusted the microphone's support so it was the correct height, Sam dared to look at Freddie, who surprisingly hadn't said a word since this whole commotion had started.

Just like she had expected, he was frowning at her, since he obviously had no idea what was going on. His eyes were clearly asking her what was happening, but she refused to answer him, or to hold his gaze for longer than just a few seconds, for that matter. He wouldn't have to wait long to understand, anyway.

Carly walked over to where Freddie was holding the camera, her hands held forward, which made her intentions clear—she was asking for the camera.

Freddie didn't give it right away to her, though. "What's going on?" he asked her, his voice just low enough for his words to go unheard by the audience, but his confusion was clear as crystal in both his voice and face.

"You'll see," Carly simply replied, before gesturing to the camera with her head.

Freddie hesitated for a moment, but he ended up giving in with a sigh and carefully handing her the camera.

Gibby walked over to where the two of them were and paused when he was standing right beside Carly, looking pretty proud of himself, since Carly had been slightly afraid for the guitar's safety when they decided that Gibby would be the one to give it to Sam during the web show.

Sam ran her hands lightly over the chords, as if that would help her grow some more courage. It didn't really work the way she had hoped it would, but it indeed helped a little bit. She took in another deep breath, before finally making herself look up once again.

Her gaze instantly met Freddie's, and she could easily see just how confused and curious he was. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his brows furrowed, but he didn't say a word; he simply waited patiently for whatever was happening in that studio to go on.

She then moved her gaze to the side, briefly meeting Gibby's eyes. He gave her a thumbs up, clearly telling her to go on, even though he had no idea what was going on.

And finally, she met Carly's gaze. Her friend was watching her with an almost motherly look in her eyes, and Sam could instantly tell that Carly was also nervous, even though she had been trying not to let it show. She knew that something could indeed go wrong, and if that happened, Sam would be truly devastated. But she was there for Sam, giving her support no matter what.

"You can do this," Carly mouthed to Sam, and that was all it took for Sam to finally begin.

"Well, uh…" she began, speaking into the microphone. She had been planning a speech for the past few weeks, reading and re-reading it until she thought it was perfect, but now, every single word of it suddenly vanished from her mind. That wasn't enough to make her stop, though, because she suddenly knew that she didn't need a previously written speech—all she had to do was say the words that came from her heart.

"As you all might already know, Freddie and I have been dating for a few months," she said, avoiding at all costs looking at Freddie in the eye. "And… Well, I have never been really good with words, and there's something I've wanted to tell him for a while now, but… I just couldn't make myself do it right." She took a deep breath in an effort to try to steady herself. "So, I…" She made a short pause. "Well, I guess you'll have to listen."

Sam then cast another glance in Freddie's direction, just in time for her to see Carly practically elbowing him in the ribs. He gave her a confused look, but instead of apologizing or explaining herself, she simply gestured with her head for Freddie to take a few steps forward, so that way he would be in the shot as well.

He hesitated for a moment, but soon enough ended up giving in and walking into the shot, pausing when he was standing just a few steps away from Sam.

Their gazes met for a second, and the curiosity in Freddie's eyes made Sam snap back to reality. She took one last deep breath, before finally letting her fingers run over the chords. The notes she had practiced so dearly during the past few weeks came to her without any effort, and the song instantly filled the studio.

Freddie was surprised to see Sam playing the guitar so well, since he had never even known she could play it at all. He guessed he should have already learned not to be surprised by anything when it came to Sam, but still, he had never even imagined that Sam could actually play the guitar.

But what really made his chin drop in both shock and amazement came soon after, the moment Sam opened her mouth and her melodic voice filled the studio.

_**When I was younger I saw **_

_**My daddy cry and curse at the wind**_

_**He broke his own heart and I watched**_

_**As he tried to reassemble it**_

Sam dared to sneak a glance in Carly's direction, only to find her best friend smiling her so widely she was suddenly afraid that her cheeks would tear apart at any given second. Sam could only take that as a good sign.

_**And my momma swore that she would**_

_**Never let herself forget**_

_**And that was the day that I promised**_

_**I'd never sing of love, if it does not exist**_

She could feel her hands shaking slightly, but she made herself keep going. It might sound weird, but in that second, Sam wasn't thinking about the over one million people all around the world that were watching her live right now.

No, the only person that mattered was the boy standing just a few steps away from her.

_**But, darling, you are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

It was weird, but at each word that left her mouth, she felt better, as if she could simply get lost in the song, just like it had happened to her so often while she was still composing it and trying so hard to make it perfect, playing and replaying it for hours in the loneliness of her room so late at night. She tried not to think about anything that was happening around her; all that mattered was her, the guitar, and Freddie.

_**Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul**_

_**That love never lasts**_

_**And we've got to find other ways to make it alone**_

_**Or keep a straight face**_

She had to keep telling herself not to look his way, because she had no idea what to expect if she did that. What if her voice got caught in her throat and she found herself unable to finish the song? That would be unbearable.

_**And I've always lived like this**_

_**Keeping a comfortable distance**_

_**And up until now I had sworn to myself**_

_**That I'm content with loneliness**_

_**Because none of it was ever worth the risk**_

Her heart was racing inside her chest, and for a moment, she wondered if anyone else in the room could hear it, no matter how freaky that thought might seem. The song was coming close to its end, and that meant that soon it would be time to finally stop being a coward and meet Freddie's gaze, and that was when she would know his opinion on the song, no matter what that was.

_**Well, you are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

Another glance in Carly's direction was already enough for her to see the fresh tears that were streaming down her best friend's face, and for a moment, she allowed a small smile to form on her lips.

_**I've got a tight grip on reality but I can't**_

_**Let go of what's in front of me here**_

_**I know you're leaving in the morning**_

_**But when you wake up**_

_**Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream**_

_**Ooh, ooh…**_

Her fingers slowed down as they ran over the chords, making the song earn a slower tempo than before.

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

The song picked up a slightly faster tempo once again, her voice rising as the song came close to its end.

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

_**You are the only exception**_

Sam's voice was much lower than before as she sang the last few verses of the song, her eyes closing briefly.

_**And I'm on my way to believing**_

Sam lowered her voice as her fingers touched the chords just barely, the last few words of the song escaping her lips effortlessly.

_**Oh, and I'm on my way to believing.**_

The words floated in the air for a few seconds, until they slowly disappeared.

Sam finally made herself look up at Freddie, her deep blue eyes finally meeting his chocolate brown ones.

She had been trying to avoid his gaze at all costs, afraid of what she might see in them, but now she saw nothing but pure amazement in them as a smile broke out on his lips. In that moment, neither of them cared about anything else in the world. It was like there was no audience watching them—they were the only two people in the world.

Gibby was suddenly standing right in front of Sam, taking the guitar from her before she dropped it or something, and she was glad he did that, since as soon as she was free from the deep blue instrument, Freddie made his way up to Sam, cupping her face and with his hands and planting a soft kiss on her lips.

A few seconds later, he pulled away slowly and looked into Sam's eyes, and all the love Sam saw in them made her heart swell with happiness.

"Sam, that was…" Freddie shook his head lightly, unable to form any kind of coherent sentence at the moment. He had never been aware of the fact that Sam could sing that well; her voice was truly angelic, but what really made him feel in the clouds was the knowledge that Sam indeed felt the same way about him, she had just been having trouble with expressing it. "That was amazing," he finally managed to let out "I can't even…"

Sam smiled at him, resting her forehead against his. "I love you." The words she had been wishing to say for the past three months left her mouth more easily than she had expected them to, and as soon as she said them, she became even surer of their meaning. She truly loved Freddie, and she was finally able to show him that.

"I love you too," Freddie replied, his smile so bright it even hurt his cheeks a little, but in that moment, he honestly didn't care about that; all that mattered to him was the amazing girl standing right in front of him.

Sam smiled back at him, her smile rivaling his in brightness, before leaning in to capture his lips in another kiss.

Carly and Gibby watched the exchange with wide smiles on both their faces. In no time at all, though, Carly realized that Sam and Freddie didn't intend to pull away from each other anytime soon. Carly turned the camera to herself, flashing the viewers a smile as she said her farewell.

"And… Goodnight."

And with that, she turned off the camera, ending the webcast.

**THE END**

* * *

**Author's Note: Once again, I'd like to thank you guys for sticking around for so long. I'd like to thank every single one of you who followed or favorited this story, as well as those who left me at least one review. All of that truly means the world to me, and you have no idea how happy all that makes me. =)**

**For those of you who are wondering, the song Sam sang is The Only Exception by Paramore. I've always related that song to Seddie for some reason, and I just couldn't contain myself, since it just fits their relationship so perfectly.**

**Well, I guess there's nothing else left for me to say so...**

**Review! ;P**

**And now, I officially declare iKnow it, and so does everybody...**

**COMPLETE.**

**xxiCarlyFanxx**


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